By: Jens Kastner
Things have been turning for the worse for Taiwan’s indigenous submarine program, seven years in the making. It has been about half a year since the prototype of its first domestic diesel submarine began early sea trials. Last week, the head of the program, Admiral Huang Shu-kuang, resigned under a barrage of attacks from lawmakers of the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) and local media outlets.
Huang Shan-shan, deputy caucus convener of the non-aligned Taiwan People's Party and the younger sister of the retired admiral, confirmed the news to local media, saying she learned of her brother's resignation a week or two ago and adding only that the resignation resulted from “career choices,” and he has completed the tasks assigned to him in the current phase with a new government set to be inaugurated, according to local media. It was reported that the retired admiral also offered to resign from his post as NSC adviser.
Criticism centers on the price tag for the program. The navy has estimated the cost of constructing the seven vessels over 15 years to be more than NT$280 billion (US$8.6 billion), or about NT$40 billion per vessel, which would be higher than the prototype, which cost about NT$31 billion. Countering the critics, Admiral Huang argued that the sea trials showed that the prototype was not fully equipped with a full array of offensive and defensive equipment that would be needed for a combat-ready vessel. Elements that appear to be missing on the prototype are air-independent propulsion, verticle missile tubes, and sound-absorbing plates…