Meet Taiwan’s ‘Most Capable’ Weapon Against China – Its 1st Indigenously Developed Submarine To Sink ‘Invading Warships’

The first submarine is being assembled at Kaohsiung City, slated to begin induction in the Republic of China (RoCN) Navy by 2025.

Scarce details based on a previously released scale model show an X-shaped rudder like the one on the Japanese Sōryū and Oyashio-class attack submarines.

The vessels weigh 2,500 tons and are 70 meters in length. A massive transfer of crucial technologies was approved under the President Donald Trump administration, with Reuters reporting that engineers from Korea, India, Canada, and other nations were assisting China Shipbuilding Corporation, Taiwan’s national shipbuilder, in the construction of the eight submarines of the class.

The submarine is expected to use US-origin 18 MK-48 Mod-6 1700 kilograms torpedoes and UGM-84L Harpoon missiles in 2020.

According to Navy Recognition, a version of the US Navy’s AN/BYG-1 submarine combat management system, used in its nuclear submarines, is being offered to Taiwan, with Lockheed Martin serving as the systems integrator.

The submarine is hoped to add to the asymmetric capabilities that Taiwan would require to withstand an attack by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), less focused on meeting the outsized Chinese adversary head-on, instead preventing their landing on the island by laying mines and striking Chinese transports carrying troops, supplies, tanks, and war material.