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MND minister defends cost of submarine programme
Ministry of National Defense (MND) Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng is standing by and defending the estimated costs of the Indigenous Defense Submarine. He says claims being made by some local media outlets that the cost per vessel would soar are "unfair."
Chiu's comments come in the wake of reports quoting unnamed naval officials who say the cost of building seven vessels over 15 years will surpass NT$280 billion. That's an average cost of around NT$40 billion per submarine. That would make the new subs far more expensive than the prototype which cost around NT$31.2 billion to build.
That submarine is currently undergoing the final round of its harbour acceptance tests.
The defence minister says the NT$280 billion being talked about is just an estimate, as the full budget proposal had not yet been submitted. Chiu also told lawmakers that the defence ministry plans to add "certain equipment" on the six other submarines, since it was felt the prototype vessel was "not necessarily sufficiently equipped."
