With the continuous testing of the domestic submarine "Hai Kun" and the advancement of the construction plan of the subsequent seven ships, the Navy will have a total of 10 modern submarines in the future, combined with the two Stegosaurus-class submarines with improved performance currently in service. In order to protect the safety of this huge underwater fleet, the Navy simultaneously launched the construction of underwater rescue energy. The military will allocate a budget of approximately 13.8 billion yuan from 2027 to 2034, giving priority to the construction of a dedicated "submarine rescue ship" so that Taiwan can establish independent deep-sea self-rescue capabilities from scratch.
Although only one dedicated rescue ship has been budgeted at this stage, according to the latest report sent to the Legislative Yuan by the Ministry of National Defense, the military emphasized that it will obtain one "first", triggering discussions on whether the military will prepare a second dedicated submarine rescue ship in the future. Military personnel generally believe that the word "first" actually reserves a lot of flexibility for the future. After all, although the probability of a submarine rescue ship actually being dispatched is low, once it enters the factory for annual maintenance or overhaul, it is often unable to operate for several months. If there is only one submarine rescue ship, there will be a rescue window during this period. Therefore, in the future, we must move towards the goal of having two dedicated ships.
Judging from the deployment experience of international navies, usually a scale of 10 to 20 submarines requires one to two rescue ships. For example, the South Korean Navy has about 20 submarines and has deployed two dedicated rescue ships to take turns to prepare for war. The terrain of the waters around Taiwan is complex, especially the eastern Pacific waters where the water is extremely deep. When the 10 submarines conduct frequent exercises in the eastern and southwestern waters in the future, if there are two dedicated rescue ships, not only can one be on duty and the other take turns, but they can also take care of the eastern and western waters respectively, ensuring that underwater officers and soldiers can be rescued as soon as possible.
However, taking into account the overall allocation of the defense budget and the production capacity of shipyards, the Navy has currently decided to adopt a pragmatic strategy of "seeking what is available first, and then improving". The first submarine rescue ship has a larger hull design and has deep-sea rescue and connection capabilities up to 500 meters underwater. It is mainly tailored for the deep sea area in eastern Taiwan. The Ministry of National Defense hopes to first use this 13.8 billion yuan construction project to successfully complete the system integration of the first submarine rescue ship mothership and deep-sea rescue vehicles, establish standard operating procedures for underwater rescue, and then evaluate the construction of a second ship based on budget and operation conditions.
In addition to the dedicated submarine rescue ships, the Navy is also planning to build two follow-up ships of the "Dawu-class" rescue ships from 2027 to 2034. In addition to the first Dawu ship already in service, there will be three general rescue ships in the future responsible for surface towing and shallow water rescue within 100 meters. Through a "high-low" combination of one dedicated deep-sea rescue ship and three Dawu-class rescue ships, as well as detachable modular rescue equipment, the Navy is gradually building a tighter underwater safety protection network.
