Type 022 Missile Boat

sndef888

Senior Member
Registered Member
Are there any 022s permanently based in the Spratlys? Seems like a decent idea, would give the USN carriers a bit of a headache without too much basing costs
 

Gloire_bb

Captain
Registered Member
That belief is why they are generally discounted when discussing Chinas naval capabilities, however I believe we will see them used in a much more offensive, and persistent manner in the future.
1. Persistence, in general, is determined by (1)autonomy and (2)seaworthiness (incl. maximum sea state when weapon usage is permitted).
022 is a really small boat in the end, with a small crew, little internal volume(hull form doesn't help), and a lot of single-purpose armament weight for its class.

2. Sensor suite of 022 is fairly basic, point in using it for patrol duties far from bases is honestly lost to me. There isn't much they can detect that maritime militia can't.

3. Light, high-performance diesel engines (almost mandatory for such applications) often have relatively low service life. Simple training for such usage will gradually wear down the ships. Aluminum hull is a major suspect here, too.

4. Continued presence exposes vessels to the possibility of attack (and substantially complicates their defense by third assets). 022s on their own are vulnerable to literally anything. And if you deploy other persistent assets to cover them - point in insisting on having 022s at sea is honestly lost.

5. They can indeed be operated from SCS island base, another type of a forward base, or simply from a tender(preferably in some sort of calm water). This is still the same thing, however - they are not on their own, and can return at will. But their capability in hostile littoral appears to be very secondary to me.
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All in all - they're better left to what they were originally designed to do.
 

Blitzo

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
That belief is why they are generally discounted when discussing Chinas naval capabilities, however I believe we will see them used in a much more offensive, and persistent manner in the future.

To stay OT we can continue in the Type 022 thread, but with the support of a suitable supply ship and space based sensors some of the 80+ examples in service could operate in many interesting shallow seas and littoral zones around the world, as well as within the second island ranges as part of groups or special missions given their capabilities. They are small, fast, stealthy, potentially very deadly and a ship carrier can easily transport four of them long distances. Let’s keep an eye out to see if any of them get updates soon, or even a new Type.

There is absolutely no evidence or any indication that the PLAN intends to operate their Type 22s in that way like you describe -- operating around the world, or even in the second island chain, with a dedicated ship carrier and a suitable supply ship?

Frankly it sounds like you're describing some kind of "FAC carrier" -- something which doesn't exist and would be a waste of a supply ship to support.

The Type 22s serve a useful role in wartime as a littoral, FAC able to carry eight decent weight AShMs, that is able to operate in an environment where the PLA has a modicum of air superiority and sea control, and if sufficiently networked it can contribute to anti-surface missions if called upon to by offboard sensors or if called upon by larger task forces.

However, Type 22s lack the sea keeping to operate at extended distances beyond green water ranges, and the eight YJ-83s they carry per ship is not worth developing a whole new concept of operations and allocating a supply ship or carrier ship just to ferry four of them around to the second island chain or beyond.


So as far as considering Chinese naval capabilities in anything outside of the first island chain, yes the Type 22s should very rightly be discounted and are not worth considering in any significant manner.
 

Tam

Brigadier
Registered Member
Lack of SATCOMs make the 022 a problem for getting satellite linked OTH target data. This is a big difference from the 056 series that has one. In order get such information, they would have to operate within the vicinity of a Type 056 or a frigate that can act as a hub for the satellite network. Once the frigate gets the targeting information, it will have to relay the information to the 022s via direct ship to ship datalink.
 

antiterror13

Brigadier
Lack of SATCOMs make the 022 a problem for getting satellite linked OTH target data. This is a big difference from the 056 series that has one. In order get such information, they would have to operate within the vicinity of a Type 056 or a frigate that can act as a hub for the satellite network. Once the frigate gets the targeting information, it will have to relay the information to the 022s via direct ship to ship datalink.

How hard or expensive would be to have SATCOM on Type 022 ?
 
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