Houbei Class (Type 022) Fast Attack Craft, Missile
In April 2004, China's Quixin Shipyard in Shanghai produced the lead Houbei Type 022 wave-piercing catamaran, hull number 2208. The Type 022 is 43 meters (140 feet) long and weighs 225 tons. It is equipped with two missile launchers and has a top speed of 38 knots. The Type 022 was the PLA Navy's new-generation stealth missile fast attack craft (FAC). The boat features a unique high-speed, wave-piercing catamaran hull design with evident radar cross-section reduction design features. A number of Chinese shipyards across the country were involved in the construction of the boat.
First spotted under construction at Qiuxin Shipyard in Summer 2004, the vessel completed sea trials in late 2004 and was possibly commissioned in 2005. It was followed by three additional boats (2209, 2210 and 2211) in or around the 2005-06 time period. More hulls were subsequently spotted under construction at other locations starting in early 2006. The Type 022 appeared to be replacing the ageing Type 021 (Huangfeng class) missile FAC in the PLA Navy service.
Catamaran vessels have existed for many centuries, mainly for sailing sport. At the end of the 20th century there was been an increased trend of employing the catamaran design on high-speed ferries. Although a number of logistic and combat support vessels in the catamaran form were tested in the past, no catamaran had ever been built for direct combat role in the modern naval history. The Type 022 missile FAC is indeed the world's first combat catamaran that had been commissioned. Coincidently, the US Navy was also testing a high-speed, wave-piercing catamaran known as FSF1 "Sea Fighter" for the littoral warfare role.
The wave-piercing catamaran offers great high-speed, long-distance cursing performance. The twin hulls of the catamaran enable the vessel to be more stable when travelling at high speeds than the conventional single-hull craft. Catamarans are especially favourable in coastal shallow waters, where large single-hull warships have limitations due to their deeper draft. The Type 022 missile FAC was likely to be used for costal defence roles in conjunction with larger surface ships and land-based aircraft.
China operated a number of missile boats over the years, including large numbers of locally procued versions of the Soviet Osa- and Komar-classes. The former were still active at the turn of the 21st century, but were in need of replacement. The large numbers of Type 022s being produced at a rapid pace could have led to the obvious conclusion that they were a modem SSM boat design with the old antiship missile (ASM) mission. The lack of the detection and track fire control radar and missile datalink Band Stand systems, which are associated with C-803/YJ-83 missiles on new construction 054 frigates and 052 Luyang DDGs, eliminated the idea that the Type 022s could carry newer C80x/YJ-8x series Mach 0.9 or supersonic long-range SSMs. The craft also has four launchers on the deck, possibly for defensive countermeasures.
The Huangfeng and Hoku missile boats had only manned twin 25mm gun mounts. On the Type 022, a Type 630 six-barrel CIWS is installed in a stealthy unmanned gun turret on the bow. The new 054 frigate and 052 DDGs have the Type 347G Rice Bowl as their CIWS fire control radar. These are large and too heavy for the small Type 022, so a 2-foot-diameter radar dish on the smaller boat appeared to be a tracking radar for the CIWS gun mount without the usual CIWS radar on top of the Type 730 CIWS.
The Australian company AMD exports various sizes of catamarans for commercial customers from all parts of the world. From 1993 until 2000, China procured seven AMD catamarans from 16 meters long to 30 meters (100 feet) long for river, seaport or local ferry duties. AMD had a joint venture company, Sea Bus International, located in Guangzhou that refined this catamaran design. After a review of competing designs, the PLAN selected a military patrol boat design based on the AMD 350, which was markedly like the Type 022 in specifications.
After several years of extensive prototype testing, Quixin then produced hulls 2209, 2210 and 2211. Many observers thought this could be only a four-ship design, such as the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN's) previous five new guided-missile destroyer (DDG) designs of only one or two hulls since 1991.
However, the startup of production for additional Type 022 hulls in Dalian, Quixin and Jiangnan shipyards in Shanghai, as well as in the Huangpu shipyard in Guangzhou, changed this precept. The large number of wave-piercing catamaran Type 022 hulls being launched several at a time at five different shipyards was a major event in PLAN shipbuilding. By early 2008 China was believed to have built as many as 40 Type 022 missile boats to replace the ageing Huangfeng class missile boats.
