Yahoo TV

STORY: Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has made the indigenous submarine program a key part of an ambitious project to modernise its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty.

Tsai said the Narwhal will enter service in 2025, joining two existing submarines purchased from the Netherlands in the 1980s. The indigenous submarine program has drawn on expertise and technology from several countries - a breakthrough for diplomatically isolated Taiwan.

Taiwan hopes to deploy at least two such domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles, the head of the program said this month. The first submarine, with a price tag of T$49.36 billion ($1.53 billion), will use a combat system by Lockheed Martin Corp and carry U.S.-made Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes. It will enter sea trials next month before delivery to the navy by the end of 2024.