KMT Lawmaker Freezes Submarine Budget; Defense Minister Hopes to Use Funds After Hai Kun's Sea Trials

As the prototype of the Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) program, the Hai Kun, undergoes sea trials, Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Ma Wen-chun has proposed a full freeze on this year's budget for follow-on submarines. In the Legislative Yuan today, Defense Minister Wellington Koo stated that CSBC Corporation, the submarine's builder, is already procuring materials for the follow-on vessels. He hopes that the condition for unfreezing the budget for these submarines will be the successful completion of the Hai Kun's sea trials, which would relieve pressure on CSBC.

The Foreign and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan today continued its review of the Ministry of National Defense's public and classified budgets for fiscal year 115.

Ma Wen-chun proposed to completely freeze the NT$11.95 billion budget allocated by the Navy Command for this year's "Indigenous Defense Submarine - Phase 3 Follow-on Ship Construction."

Koo stated that last year's condition for unfreezing the follow-on submarine budget was the Hai Kun's completion of sea trials. He expressed hope that this year's unfreezing conditions could follow last year's precedent, because CSBC is currently procuring related materials for the follow-on ships and needs to make contract payments, for which it is taking out loans.

Koo implored legislators to understand the burden on CSBC regarding the follow-on ships. He added that after passing sea trials, the Hai Kun still has various performance verifications to undergo before meeting delivery requirements. Therefore, allowing the frozen budget to be disbursed upon completion of the sea trials would be a great relief for CSBC.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Ting-yu said that no one present wants the submarine program to fail. He noted that Koo has already promised the funds would only be used after the sea trials are passed. The process of building the follow-on ships involves the confidence of international suppliers, namely the suppliers of "red zone" equipment. If the follow-on budget faces many hurdles, these manufacturers may not see a reason to stick with Taiwan. Tying the unfreezing condition to the completion of sea trials would both satisfy the legislators' oversight objectives and prevent a loss of confidence from suppliers, while also ensuring the work and morale of the shipbuilders, creating a balance for all three parties.

Wang pointed out that if the committee can reach a consensus on the unfreezing method, the budget proposal should not be overturned during cross-party caucus negotiations, as this would uphold the principle of committee-centric deliberation. He urged legislators on the defense committee who share this consensus to persuade their respective party caucuses not to make further changes to the proposal during negotiations, and thus hoped to consolidate consensus within the committee.

Ma Wen-chun explained that submarines are high-risk, high-tech, and high-cost equipment, so the engineering process must be respected. The reason for proposing a full freeze on the follow-on submarine budget is simple: even last year's budget has not been executed because the Hai Kun has not passed its basic sea trials. The biggest fear is replicating the prototype's errors onto the follow-on ships. Therefore, she insisted on freezing the budget and hopes that the funds can only be disbursed after a special report is submitted to and approved by the legislature, stating this is a responsible approach to budget expenditure.

KMT legislator Niu Hsu-ting pointed out that while the committee seems to have reached a consensus on freezing the entire budget for the follow-on ships, they have not agreed on the level of oversight. He added that the Hai Kun's construction involves huge expenses and is a major military buildup policy, so a clear explanation to reassure the public is necessary. Therefore, arranging a special project report after the Hai Kun completes its sea trials is not without justification.

As the KMT and DPP legislators did not reach a consensus on the method for unfreezing the budget for the follow-on submarines, the entire case was reserved for cross-party negotiations.