Taiwan to launch homegrown submarine plan with initial 60.5 million pound budget

Taiwan navy's SS-793 Hai Lung diesel-electric submarine emerges from underwater during a naval demonstration near a military navy base in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, January 22, 2013. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan has allocated T$3 billion (60.51 million pounds) over four years, beginning next year, to launch a long-awaited programme for the island to build its own diesel-electric submarines.

The expected allocation is the first for a plan that has been talked about since the early 2000s, when a deal with the United States for eight diesel-electric submarines got bogged down because of technical and political constraints.