The development of the family of missile boats in our country has always attracted much attention. In the fifties and sixties, due to the limited comprehensive national strength of our country, China did not have the strength to develop large surface warship formations for a long time. Therefore, China's navy has adopted the coastal defense mode of underwater submarines, surface missile boats and shore-based fighters, and on this basis, it has successively developed many different types of missile boats, including the classic Type 021 missile boats.
The Type 022 missile boat is a 200-ton missile boat developed by China in the early 21st century, with a full load displacement of only more than 200 tons, a wave-piercing stealth design, and equipped with 8 YJ-83 anti-ship missile launchers and 1 AK630 cannon. It is equipped with two MTU V-type 16-cylinder 386 TE74L diesel engines and can reach a maximum speed of nearly 50 knots.
However, despite being touted as an aircraft carrier killer in the early 21st century, the Type 022 missile boat is not as useful in modern combat mode as it was originally advertised. With the rapid development of our country's navy, the mass equipment and delivery of capital ships, the status of Type 022 missile boats has gradually declined. Around 2015, various statements disparaging the Type 022 missile boat began to appear on the Internet, and some even considered it one of the most undesirable pieces of equipment.
However, the development of each type of equipment needs to take into account its design background and the actual situation and specific tasks in the early stage of service. Generally speaking, the service period of sea ** boats is about 30 years, and at this stage, more than 60 Type 022 missile boats have entered the middle and late stages of service, of which the first batch has been in service for nearly 20 years, and even the last batch has been in service for nearly 15 years.
The new mission of the Type 022 missile boat on the islands and reefs in the South China Sea: guarding the sea frontier With the change of the navy's combat mission, the use of the Type 022 missile boat is also gradually evolving. In recent years, friction over islands and reefs in the South China Sea has led some countries to adopt a "hob-and-knife, hooligan-like" mode of operation, such as sending fishing boats and other vessels to carry out raids. Faced with this situation, it is not appropriate to dispatch large capital ships directly, because of the tight time and various problems.
Therefore, the Type 022 missile boat became an ideal option. Although this type of missile boat has problems such as small tonnage and insufficient endurance, it is precisely because of its small tonnage, fast speed, shallow draft and other characteristics that it is very suitable for deployment on islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and can rely on large islands and reefs for material supply or as a safe haven at sea. There have been reports that Type 022 missile boats have been stationed on Subi Island, one of the islands and reefs in the South China Sea.
In the course of the confrontation around Ren'ai Jiao, the two Type 022 missile boats quickly rushed to the vicinity of Ren'ai Jiao by virtue of their high speed. This indicates that the specific tasks of the Type 022 missile boat have changed significantly, evolving from coastal defense to defending islands and reefs. The Type 022 missile boat is very suitable for dealing with all kinds of small ships that intrude on China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea, because it has the characteristics of fast speed, and is also equipped with 30 mm machine guns, which is enough to deal with all kinds of small ships.
The Type 022 missile boat is deployed near various islands and reefs in the South China Sea, which can quickly drive away the intrusion targets that are approaching, cooperate with China's coast guard forces to patrol, reduce the patrol burden of China's various main destroyers, and efficiently complete the task of guarding the South China Sea and maritime frontiers at a low cost.
Of course, the Type 022 missile boat is a 200-ton ship after all, with limited tonnage and firepower, so if the surrounding countries dispatch the main ships of the Navy to deal with opponents of this level, they need to dispatch larger ships, such as the 1400-ton Type 056 corvette, the 4000-ton 054A series frigate, and even the 7500-ton 052D series destroyer. Depending on the needs of the mission, different ships can be deployed.
It should be noted that the Type 022 missile boat will mean a comprehensive escalation of the situation, because the Type 022 missile boat belongs to the sea ** boat, and it will be attacked by various other capital ships of the Navy. In the general environment of the 20s of the 21st century, the Type 022 missile boats were deployed on various islands and reefs in the South China Sea, playing a new role in a new stage.