Houbei Class (Type 022) - Design

The 022 stealth missile boat is a new type of stealth speedboat based on anti-ship missiles. It has a displacement of less than 500 tons and has the advantages of high speed and flexibility, invisible and long-lasting, strong firepower and air defense capability. Combined with the PLA information accusation system, it can become a flexible weapon launching platform. With the assistance of satellites, airplanes and other surface ships, the boat can carry out long-range attacks, attacking the surface targets with the "Eagle Strike" series of anti-ship missiles, and even carrying cruise missiles to support the firepower of the land.

The shape design of the 022 missile boat is concealed. The 022 boat superstructure has multiple large dip angles, which spreads the radar reflection wave of the superstructure , making the search radar severely weakened at various angles. The 022 boat and the mast are made into a windward and multi-faceted shape. The hull opening is also covered with roller shutters and blinds. Even the edges of the observation window in the bridge are designed with stealth and zigzag. The 022 boat uses 4 sets of water jet propulsion units. The water jet propulsion avoids the intense air bubbles generated by the conventional propeller propulsion, and the propeller noise can be transmitted to the rear after being shielded and concentrated by the ducts, so that the invisible effect of the 022 sound is greatly improved. The engine exhaust port at the rear of the boat is also designed for infrared suppression.

The 022 boat is not a completely invisible boat. The photoelectric tracker, the iron anchor, the antenna and the railings exposed on the boat without invisible treatment can form effective radar reflection waves. However, compared with Japanese baots and the Taiwanese “Guanghua No. 6”, the 022 radar reflection area is already small. The 022 boat also has two quad-mounted rocket launchers for launching chaff/infrared jamming rockets and interfering with enemy anti-ship missiles . Due to the weak radar and infrared characteristics of the 022 boat itself, the characteristics of the chaff/infrared interference rocket are relatively strong, and the anti-ship missile is more likely to be deceived and yawed, and the protection effect is outstanding. Public reports alleged that during the exercise, the 022 boat escaped multiple missile attacks.

Although the Chinese Navy has not announced the 022 boat speed index, it can still find the answer from similar ship type indicators. SBI's wave - piercing catamaran AMD/K55 is 50 knots, AMD/A60 is 60 knots (446 passengers, 52 cars can drive 56 knots), and can be maintained under 5 sea conditions. High speed sailing. From the general rule that the missile boat generally emphasizes high speed, the 022 boat may have a maximum speed of 40 to 50 knots. The characteristics of the catamaran are that the speed difference between the standard displacement and the full load displacement is small, and the speed difference of the single vessel is relatively large. It should be pointed out that the waves in the distant sea are turbulent, and any single ship type loses a lot of speed under high sea conditions. Japan's "Falcon" class missile boats still water, under standard displacement trial ran out in Section 44 of the maximum theoretical speed , the single ship at high sea conditions, the stall is very serious, extremely time only 40 to 50% of the theoretical speed. The speed of the wave - piercing catamaran at high sea conditions is generally only a few knots.

The AMD150, which is a wave-type catamaran type, is very comfortable. It can sail normally under the condition of 7~8 wind and wave height of 2.6 meters. The seasickness rate of passengers is less than 10%. As a 200-ton single-hull ship type, Japan’s “Falcon" class is very bumpy under high sea conditions. The smooth navigation is essential for a small missile boat of 220 tons, which is conducive to the crew's ability to maintain physical strength and clear thinking. Under high sea conditions, 022 is more capable of attacking than "Falcon".

The 022 can carry 8 YJ83 anti-ship missiles ; The "Falson" class, carrying 4 types of anti-ship missiles of 90 ; So the 022 firepower is more powerful than the Japanese counterpart. More missiles mean that they can fill the opponent's anti-missile fire channel with multiple missiles, achieve saturation attacks, and improve the missile's hit rate.

The 022 class top of the invisible mast has a "Seagull C-type" multi-purpose radar for sea-to-air, working in the C-band, with multiple functions of search, target locking, guided anti-ship, and ship-to-air missile attack. The radar has a range of 100km and a height of 8km. However, the 022 combat mode generally relies on the data link antenna between the two launch boxes to receive the alert information, and generally maintains the radar silence. In the bridge overhead just above the bottom of the mast is the former, there is a domestic OFC-3 or similar products OT-3 photoelectric tracker. OFC-3 photoelectric tracker has TV tracking, infrared tracking and laser ranging function. The system response time is 3s, the radius of gyration is 315mm, and the weight is about 115kg. The clear day is better than 10km in the sea conditions. The viewing distance is 20km. The OT-3 has a diameter of 550mm, a radius of 315mm and a weight of about 115kg. It also has the functions of closed line stabilization and infrared thermal imaging tracking on the basis of the OFC-3 . Photocells provide navigation and proximity warnings for the 022 that keeps the radar silent.

The 022 boat missile bay can accommodate different missile boxes/missiles as needed. The 022 boat can be equipped with the Eagle Strike 83 missile. The missile is a new type of medium-range anti - ship missile that has been used in China since the end of the 1990s . The missile has a maximum range of more than 150 kilometers. It uses mid-range command correction and terminal active radar guidance . It has sector emission, no post-launch, and super-view. from the attack and multi-target attack capability. The missile has a length of 6.56 meters, a wingspan of 1.18 meters (0.58 meters after the wing is folded), a diameter of 0.36 meters and a total weight of 830 kilograms. The warhead is a semi- armored warhead weighing 165 kilograms. It uses a delayed trigger fuze and a single hit. The rate is above 95%. In combat, the target information of the target is detected by the maritime patrol alert or the target detection equipment equipped on the boat.

After the target enters the effective range of the missile , all 8 missiles can be launched at intervals of 3 seconds. After the missile is ignited, the solid propellant rocket is started, causing the missile to fly away from the missile launching box. After a few seconds, the booster rocket is separated from the missile body, and the jet engine works to make the missile speed reach Mach 0.9; the missile maintains the original set heading. In the middle, the target coordinate data transmitted through the warning machine can be received, and the originally set attack target can be modified; when the target is 10 kilometers away, the terminal guidance radar on the missile is started, and the target is searched and tracked. The missile then launched a sea attack and attacked the target ship's waterline.

The 022 boat is equipped with a 30mm 6-tube domestic high-speed gun from the Russian AK-630M1-2 type, with a maximum range of 8000 meters and an interception distance of 3,000 meters for anti-ship missiles . It is mainly used for short-range anti-missile. Air defense, the highest rate of fire can reach 4500 to 5000 rounds / min, with a certain anti-missile ability.