Type 022 Missile Boat

lcloo

Captain
Type 022 was first launched in 2004. Its introduction was a stop gap "emergency measure" to counter foreign navies threat. Prior to 2004 Chinese navy was still an relatively weak navy equiped with mostly obsolete type 051 DDG and type 053 FFG. This was the year the first type 052C #170 was commissioned while #171 was to be commissiioned a year later.

Type 022 have served their intended purpose, and most of them are now into their last decade of service with PLAN. Most of them will be retired around 2025 to 2030. There is no reason to upgrade them. They are probably the last of dedicated missile boats for PLAN.

Also type 056's introduction was meant to replace type 037 sub chasers. They are not type 022 replacement and they have different mission roles
 

nlalyst

Junior Member
Registered Member
More importantly, it's SAR.

I wonder and suspect, if you used SAR on a stealth fighter on a tarmac it would show up as well.
Very likely. VLO aircraft are relatively unoptimzed against radar beams coming from above.
 

nlalyst

Junior Member
Registered Member
I don't know what USNI is trying to prove but its stupid.
I think the point is that these ships are an easy target for anti-ship missiles like SM-6 that attack in a high altitude, high angle trajectory. The SAR radar is probably X-band, possibly C-band, similar to the missile seeker.
 

nlalyst

Junior Member
Registered Member
I looked up what kind of satellites Capella Space uses.

These are 100kg micro satellites, operating in X-band. They orbit at altitudes close to 500km.

In spot mode they offer a 0.5mx0.5m resolution: best on the market. Apparently they are capable of better, but are forbidden by US law to sell images at a higher resolution than that.

X-band is where most missile seekers operate at.
 
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plawolf

Lieutenant General
This is just a load of sensationalist nonsense. Stealth shaping is directional optimised. You light up any stealth fighter from directly above and you will get a decent RCS return.

Even overhead real time space based SAR monitoring is going to be of extremely questionable utility in a real world scenario where you have 022s operating out in the real world where there are lots of other returns from fishing boats to whales and reefs. The principle of radar stealth has never been about eliminating all returns, but to make returns small enough as to make it very hard to impossible to distinguish from all the background noise of the real world.
 

AndrewS

Brigadier
Registered Member
I think the point is that these ships are an easy target for anti-ship missiles like SM-6 that attack in a high altitude, high angle trajectory. The SAR radar is probably X-band, possibly C-band, similar to the missile seeker.

Where did you get the idea that an SM-6 is supposed to be used as an anti-ship missile?

It costs $5M and only has a small 64kg warhead.
 

anzha

Senior Member
Registered Member
Where did you get the idea that an SM-6 is supposed to be used as an anti-ship missile?

It costs $5M and only has a small 64kg warhead.

Whether it's a good idea or not...from Raytheon's own website:
Anti-surface warfare: The SM-6 missile engaged its first surface target in 2016, supporting the Navy’s concept of distributed lethality, or the ability to strike from any ship or location. The missile has also repeatedly broken its own record for the longest-range, surface-to-air intercept in naval history.

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nlalyst

Junior Member
Registered Member
More importantly, it's SAR.

I wonder and suspect, if you used SAR on a stealth fighter on a tarmac it would show up as well.
Another interesting aspect here is that as the satellite images the aircraft from different angles and at high resolution , it generates a radar signal response curve as a function of angle (in amplitude, phase and polarization) which can be used to analyze the material properties of the aircraft skin, which can then be used to estimate the aircraft's RCS from angles not visible to the SAR radar. I guess one reason more not to keep your stealth aircraft parked out in the open.
 
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