The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense (MND) continues to strengthen its underwater warfare, and the Taiwanese-built submarine “Narwhal” (海鯤號), which was unveiled in September last year, is conducting various tests. Although the Ministry of National Defense’s public budget for next year revealed that the completion of the ship will be postponed by four years from next year to 2029, military sources stressed that the delivery schedule of the Sea Fish in November 2025 has not changed according to the contract, and the delayed conclusion is for system optimization, structural adjustment, and weapons system testing.
According to the MND’s public budget this year, the total budget of the “submarine domestic-phase prototype construction of the second stage” involving the “Narwhal” submarine is TWD49,361,709,000 (USD 1,537,123,618.26), and the original budget of TWD2,567,046,000,000 (USD 79,937,812,440.00) will be “closed” next year after the budget of TWD3,932,631,000 (USD 122,462,129.34)will be implemented this year from 2019 to 2025. However, the Ministry of National Defense’s budget for next year shows that the implementation time of the ship construction project of the “Narwhal” submarine has been extended by four years, and it is expected that the project will be concluded in 2029, and the budget of more than 2.5 billion TWD will also be included in the next four years.
As for the reason for the postponement of the submarine construction of the “Narwhal”, military sources said that this is because the “Narwhal” submarine still needs to be optimized and adjusted in its system, and it is also responsible for the test ship task of weapons system testing, which is an important reference basis when China has already started the construction of subsequent submarines in batches, so on July 17 this year, the Ministry of Defense agreed to revise the entire case and obtain a plan, and the whole case will be extended to the end of 2029.
However, does this mean that the delivery of the “Narwhal” and the completion of the army will be delayed? Military sources stressed that the contract signed between the National Army and the shipbuilding factory Merchant Taiwan Shipbuilding clearly stipulates that the Haiyu must be delivered by November 3, 2025, and that various test operations will still be carried out according to this progress, and it will not affect the construction schedule.
According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget for next year, the total budget of the seven submarines is expected to be TWD 284,080,800,000 (USD 8,846,276,112.00), and it will be carried out in 14 years between next year and 2038, and it is expected that “3+2+2” method is planned in batches, and the peak budget implementation period falls between 2027 and 2035, a total of 9 years, with a single-year budget higher than 20 billion TWD, and the highest peak occurs in 2031, with a single-year implementation amount of more than 32.1 billion TWD.
Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光), a key figure in the development of the “Narwhal” submarine, said at an internal meeting that he personally expects that if two more Chien Lung-class (劍龍級) submarines are added, three submarines will be serviceable in 2025 and four in 2027, which means that by 2027, not only will the “Narwhal” be commissioned, but also one follow-up ship will be in place. The two Chien Lung-class submarines are currently carrying out the Combat System Performance Improvement Project, which will be completed in 2027 as scheduled.
國防部持續加強水下作戰能力，去年9月亮相的國造潛艦「海鯤號」目前正在進行各項測試。儘管國防部在明年度的預算書中透露，該艦的結案時間將延後4年至2029年，但軍方人士強調，根據合約，海鯤號仍需在2025年11月按時交艦，延後結案的原因主要是為了進行系統優化、構型調整及武器系統測試，這些都是未來艦艇量產的重要參考，並不會影響建軍的進度。
根據國防部今年的預算書，與海鯤號潛艦相關的「潛艦國造-第2階段原型艦籌建」計畫，總預算為493億6170萬9千元 (新臺幣，下同)，原定於2019年至2025年執行。今年已執行39億3263萬1千元的預算，明年原計劃執行的25億6704萬6千元預算則被列為「收尾」。然而，國防部的預算書顯示，海鯤號的造艦計畫執行時間延長至2029年，25億餘元的預算也將分攤至接下來的4年執行。
對於海鯤號潛艦造艦計畫延後的原因，軍方人士表示，這是因為「海鯤號」潛艦需要進行系統優化、構型調整，並擔任武器系統測試的任務，這對於我國後續潛艦的分批建造具有重要的參考價值。因此，國防部於今年7月17日同意修訂整體規劃，將該計畫延至2029年結束。
不過，這是否意味著海鯤號的交付和成軍時間會延後？軍方人士強調，國軍與造艦廠商台船簽署的合約明確規定，海鯤號必須在2025年11月3日之前交艦，目前仍在按照進度進行各項測試，這不會影響建軍的進程。
在海鯤號延長結案期限之際，國造潛艦的後續建造工作也已確定將於明年啟動。根據國防部明年度的預算報告，7艘後續潛艦的總預算為2840億8080萬元，計劃在明年至2038年間分14個年度執行。預計將採用“3+2+2”的方式分批籌措資金，預算執行的高峰期將集中在2027年至2035年這9年間，單年預算均將超過200億元，最高峰預計出現在2031年，屆時單年執行金額將超過321億元。
作為海鯤號潛艦研發工作的關鍵人物，國家安全會諮詢委員黃曙光在內部會議上表示，他個人期望，如果再加上2艘現役的劍龍級潛艦，預計到2025年將有3艘潛艦可投入服役，到2027年將增至4艘。這意味着到2027年，不僅海鯤號將正式服役，還有1艘後續潛艦也將到位。同時，2艘劍龍級潛艦目前正在進行戰鬥系統性能提升項目，預計將如期於2027年完成。
