China’s Type 22 guided missile boat (or known as the Type 022 guided missile boat) is an aircraft carrier killer weapon. Its mass construction began in 2004, and by mid-2009, more than 80 of them were launched or commissioned.
Type 22 missile boats were originally used to respond to the situation in the Taiwan Strait, but later most of them were sealed and replaced by Type 056 frigates which were also mass-produced.
However, according to recent reports by the Philippine media, the Type 22 guided missile speedboat appeared in the South China Sea. On April 8, a reporter from the Philippine ABS-CBN TV station led a reporting team to take the civilian fishing boat to Ren’ai Reef.
The Philippine reporter claimed that in the sea area 4 miles south of Ren’ai Reef, the reporting group ship was intercepted by the China Coast Guard 5101 ship, who approached and asked to report their identity. But the fishermen and the reporting team ignored the request of the Chinese ship.
The Philippines reported that the Chinese Coast Guard 5101 ship followed and monitored them for more than an hour. During the period, two Type 22 guided missile boats of the Chinese Navy also went to the sea area where the incident occurred. After 20 minutes to 30 minutes of visual contact, they headed towards the direction of Meiji Reef which is under China’s control.
According to photos released by the Philippine Air Force on March 29, China had three Type 22 guided missile boats and the island reef supply ship No. 888 Fuxian Lake anchored at the Meiji Reef port that day.
In order to achieve a high speed of 50 knots, the hull of the Type 22 missile boat is made of aluminum alloy, but this material is easily corroded by seawater, so it is not easy to maintain. In addition, due to the small hull of the Type 22 missile boat and a maximum range of only 600 nautical miles, it is difficult to reach the enemy aircraft carriers.
However, in November 2020, CCTV’s “National Defense Military” reported that the Type 22 guided missile boats were training in the South China Sea. So such boats were deployed to the South China Sea as early as that time.