Reference News Network, August 4 report. According to the Taiwan "China Times News" on August 4, the self-made submarine "Haikun" completed its third surface test in July. The Taiwan Shipbuilding Company said that the submarine has carried out sea dynamic combination verification of each system and periscope function testing. In the future, it will make adjustments and improvements based on the test results. However, on August 4, military expert Mei Fuxing from the island pointed out that due to problems with the contractor, the optical periscope for the "Haikun" submarine must be delayed by 6 to 12 months before delivery. Since Taiwan refused to accept this, the U.S. temporarily "lent a set" for testing purposes.
The report stated that Mei Fuxing posted on Facebook on August 4, saying that in late 2024, U.S. personnel had informed that in 2024, due to construction issues by L3 Harris Technologies' subcontractor, the optical periscope could not be fulfilled on time. Later, they re-tendered and found a qualified subcontractor, but it would take 6 to 12 months to deliver. For this, Taiwan obviously could not accept it, so (around autumn 2024) L3 Harris Technologies proposed to "lend" an optical periscope to the Taiwan Shipbuilding Company to meet the testing needs.
Mei Fuxing speculated that even if the "Haikun" has already been equipped with an optical periscope, it should also be the borrowed one. The problem is, even if this optical periscope passes all tests, after the official optical periscope is delivered, will it have to be removed and retested again?
Mei Fuxing also questioned what test was referred to when it was said that the submarine could complete all tests and deliver by the end of 2025, and who would be responsible for this at that time?
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7534722272293241344/
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