PLAN(People’s Liberation Army Navy)

Type 22 “Houbei”Fast Attack Craft (FAC)

Last Updated 31 July 2011

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George Root(571) 218-4337

George.Root@covad.net

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VADM Cebrowski’s Street Fighter concept is alive and well….in China.

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Yesterday’s PLAN Type 22 FAC Conceptual CONOPS

The PLAN’s “Street Fighter” CONOPS*

* The “Street Fighter” was a naval strategy and CONOPs first seriously considered by the USN in 2001. This OSD supported concept proponed the use of numerous small, inexpensive, and networked missile firing ships instead of a few much larger and more expensive combatants. The Street Fighter concept evolved to the development of the larger Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) primarily because the ability to “self deploy” was critical to the USN’s overarching “Forward Deployed” strategy.

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Today’s PLAN Type 22 FAC Real World CONOPS

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PLAN Type 22 FAC (NATO codename: Houbei class)

42.6 Meters (140 Feet)

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Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)Length: 378 ft & 418 ft

Displacement: 2,784 & 3,000 tonsCost: $480M (new)

Oliver Hazard Perry Frigate (FFG)Length: 453 ft

Displacement: 4,100 tonsCost: $194M (avg. in FY-78)

(source: Global Security.org)

Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG)Length: 509 ft

Displacement: 8,230 tonsCost: $1.96B (new)

Aegis Cruiser (CG) Length: 567 ft

Displacement: 9,600 tonsCost: $1.22B

Ship drawings are to scale

Type 22 Houbei (FAC)Length: 140 ft

Displacement: 220 tonsCost: $50M (est.)

Type 22 Houbei Size Comparison to USN Combatants

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Looks Like Development Version of Type 22 FAC

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Earliest Version of PLAN FAC 2208

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Launchers for 8 Missiles (4 each)Single AAW Gun

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The Type 022 (NATO codename: Houbei class)

New-generation catamaran (twin-hull) missile fast attack craft (FAC). The first-of-class (hull number 2209) was launched in April 2004 at the Qiuxin Shipyard based in Shanghai.

Eight contractors are now involved in the construction of the Type 022, with about 80 hulls delivered by the end of 2010.

More hulls are expected in the next few years.

The vessel replaces the ageing Type 021 (Huangfeng class) that were commissioned between the late 1960s and early 1980s.

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Source: http://www.sinodefence.com/navy/littoral/type022.asp

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Source: http://www.chinasecurityblog.com/2010/02/15/chinas-stealth-type-022-fast-attack-missile-craft-from-chinesemil-blogspot-com/

February 15th, 2010

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PLAN Coastal Base With 35 Type 22 FACs

Looks Like the Makings of a Swarm

270 14’05.00” N; 1200 22’ 40.95”E

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Specifications:• Displacement: 220 tons full load• Length: 42.6 m • Beam: 12.2 m • Draft: 1.5 m • Speed: 36 kts (unclassified number)• Crew: 12

Armament:• Anti-ship missiles: 8 C-801/802/803 (C-803 unclassified range is 200 km**)• Or 8 Land-attack missiles (type unspecified)• Surface-to-air missiles: FLS-1 surface-to-air launcher with 12 QW-3 MANPAD

missiles (Range: 0.8 – 8 km; Altitude: 4 m – 5 km) (PLAN claims FLS-1 but this has not been verified)

• Guns: 1 x licensed copy of KBP AO-18 6-barrel 30 mm gun (AK-630) by ZEERI

Sensors:• Surface search radar: 1 Type 362• Navigational radar: 1• Electro-optics: HEOS 300

Propulsion: 2 diesel engines @ 6,865 hp with 4 waterjet propulsors by MARI

Type 22 Houbei Class Specifications

** Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-803

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Brown Water Houbei

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Type 22 Houbei Underway at Speed

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Note Lack of Conventional “Kelvin Wake” That Would Enable Detection From Airborne and Space Based Sensors

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2 PLAN FACs In the Yards

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PLAN FAC 22xx

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Type 22 Houbei HullThe Type 022 appears to have a hull that is a combination of a wave-piercing catamaran hull and a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH). Traditional catamaran hull designs allow for large and broad decks, but have poor stability in high seas at high speeds and less payload than conventional displacements hulls. The Type 22’s modified wave-piercing catamaran/SWATH hull would be less affected by wave action forward and would have better payload carrying capability aft where the vessel carries 8 C-803 missiles (1200 kg each) and their canisters.

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Note Semi-Swath Hull and Apparent Heat Exchanger Aft on Wet Deck

Possible Heat Exchanger to Cool Exhaust

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Type 22 Houbei 2211 Starboard Side Paint Job

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Same Type 22 Houbei 2211 Port Side Paint Job

No Two Houbei Paints Jobs Are The Same – Probably to Defeat Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) Software In Both IRS Sensors and Weapons

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Tactical Camouflage for Each Vessel is Different

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Type 22 Camouflage May Be Optimized Against Air & Satellite Detection

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Apparently New Type 22 Digital Camouflage

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There is a Type 22 FAC In This Scene

Note: This is a composite graphic illustration, not an actual real world scene.

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Type 22 Camouflage May Be Optimized Against Detection & Auto-Target Recognition

Note: This is a composite graphic illustration, not an actual real world scene.

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PLAN FAC 22xx In Dry Dock

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Type 22 Close-up of Deck Arrangements (1 of 3)

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Type 22 Close-up of Deck Arrangements (2 of 3)

Type 22 Close-up of Deck Arrangements (3 of 3)

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Type 22 With Apparent Countermeasures and ESM or Countermeasure Sensors Uncovered

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PLAN Type 22 FAC Radar Stealth Details

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PLAN FAC Waterjet Propulsors by MARI

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Mixing of Foam, Spray, and Exhaust Between The Hulls And Below The Wet Deck May Be Suppressing The Vessels Thermal Signature

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C-803 (YJ-83) Anti-ship Missile

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PLAN FACs Loading C-803 Missiles (1 of 2)C-803 ASCM in Canister

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4 PLAN FACs Loading C-803 Missiles (2 of 2)

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C-803 ASCM

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On June 24th 2010the Chinese government announced a live firing training exercise to be held in an area of Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province in the East China Sea from June 30 - July 5. The 6 day exercise warns all civilian vessels to stay out of the exclusion zone for safety purposes. With the decision to conduct a military exercise on the weekend of July 4th, the impression China is giving is that this exercise is intended to specifically target the United States.

The exercises are expected to feature numerous Type 022 Houbei fast attack missile catamarans in addition to other ships and submarines of the PLA Navy, as well as other branches of the PLA. The Department of Defense annual report on Military Power of the People’s Republic of China (PDF), the latest edition released in March of 2009, lists a count of 70 fast attack missile vessels currently in operation for the PLA Navy. The U. S. Office of Naval Intelligence report (PDF) (2010) notes there are over 50 Type 022 Houbei's in service, perhaps as many as 32 in the East Sea Fleet. The Type 022 is a relatively short ranged (500 nm) heavily armed stealthy catamaran that is thought to be utilized for swarming approaching warships and attacking from multiple axis with their 8 YJ-83 missiles.

C-803 ASCM Firings from Houbei In 2010

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Type 022s Firing YJ-83 (C-803) Anti-ship Missiles (7Jul2010)

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Houbei Bridge Team Posing For The Cameraman

Type 22s May Not Radiate During Missile Operations and May Rely on OTH Targeting From Other Platforms and Space Assets

Houbei Missile Targeting Team Posing For The Cameraman

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Notional FAC C-803 ASCM Coverage of the Straits of TaiwanAssumptions in this rindering:• Each Type 22 Carries 8 C-803 ASCMs• Maximum C-803 ASCM Range = 200 km• Type 22 FACs Remain Within Coastal Islands

PLAN Could Provide Double ASCM Shooter Coverage With Only 4 of Their 82 Type 22s

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2CHINA

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Taiwan

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Type 630 Soviet Style Six-barrel 30mm AAW Gun

Type 630 AAW Gun

HEOS 300 Optical Gun Director

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PLAN FACs Firing AAW Guns

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The Chinese Navy has gone to significant lengths to reduce the investment in any single Project 022 class FAC-M to a minimum. This does not just apply to equipment standards, austere though they are, but to manpower. The Project 022 has a crew of 12 to 14 sailors, less than half that of similar craft. At a unit cost of an estimated $50 million each, the Chinese could afford both the financial and manpower commitment needed to operate a very large fleet of these craft. Construction is expected to exceed 100 hulls and may well go beyond that point.

Stuart Slade, Senior Naval AnalystForecast International , 26 January 2011

Type 22 Houbei FACs As “Low Cost” Surface Combatants

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VADM Cebrowski’s Street Fighter concept is alive and well….in China.