Taiwan's first homemade submarine is back in the water and close to finishing its tests, a positive sign for the navy but one that comes with heavy pressure and a frozen budget.

• The Hai Kun submarine has come out of dry dock in Kaohsiung after about ten days of adjustments and is expected to head back out to sea soon.
• Heavy rain in Kaohsiung stalled testing for more than six weeks, delaying the final stages: deeper dives and overnight endurance runs.
• Only two test stages remain before the boat can be handed over to the navy.
• A shake-up of senior staff at the shipyard's submarine plant is being read as a sign the program is now running smoothly and under tighter control from the top.
• Half of the roughly NT$2 billion in start-up money for submarines two and three is frozen until Hai Kun finishes all its sea tests, putting the shipyard and the navy under real pressure.

Outlook: Hai Kun should return to sea within weeks, but the defense ministry's insistence on safety first means the remaining tests — and the frozen funding — could still slip.