A group of fast attack missile boats attached to the Chinese PLA Navy sail at sea during a maritime training exercise on April 5, 2025. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wang Heqiu)

The Type 22, a class of fast, agile, stealthy and powerful missile boat of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, has been carrying out diversified missions, including foreign warship interception and rights protection in the South China Sea, a latest official media report revealed. This showed that the Type 22 missile boat, despite having being built some 20 years ago, continues to play meaningful roles thanks to its unique capabilities, an expert said on Monday. 

In recent years, the Type 22 missile boat has begun to be tasked with more diversified missions such as littoral patrols, escorting, tracking and monitoring, as well as collaborating with coast guard ships in safeguarding China's maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, the military channel of China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday.

According to the report, during an unspecified training mission, the Type 22 missile boat commanded by Yang Wu from the navy of the PLA Eastern Theater Command, received a sudden order to intercept a foreign warship intruding into Chinese waters at an undisclosed maritime region.

The foreign warship has a displacement of approximately 8,000 to 9,000 tons, while that of the Type 22 missile boat is just over 200 tons, Yang said in the CCTV report. However, despite the small size, the Type 22 fully utilized its advantages, including high mobility, high stealth capability and strong firepower, allowing the boat to immediately arrive at the scene, support its positions and deal with the foreign warship, Yang said. 

Wang Yunfei, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Monday that the Type 22 missile boat was designed and built some 20 years ago, when the PLA Navy had limited large vessels but faced with heavy coastal defense duties. This type of vessel carried its duty well at that time, being able to conduct maritime assault missions carrying anti-ship missiles and sail at about 50 knots at sea.

As the PLA Navy shifts from pure coastal defense to a combination of coastal and far seas defense, after having commissioned large warships such as aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, the aging Type 22 missile boat can still play meaningful roles thanks to its unique capabilities, Wang said.

Water is shallow near islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and boats like the Type 22 can move flexibly when larger vessels would need to worry about hitting the rocks, Wang said, noting that the Type 22 can also easily outpace other countries' vessels of similar sizes.

The Type 22 missile boat was among the more than 30 vessels in active service that opened to the public for visit during the celebration events around April 23 for the PLA Navy's 76th anniversary of founding, the Xinhua News Agency reported at the time.

According to an earlier report by CCTV, the Type 22 is the PLA Navy's first type of stealth boat, first type of catamaran missile boat, and first type of main combat vessel equipped with waterjet propulsors, which give the vessel faster speed and higher agility compared with conventional propellors. Another reason for the high speed is its light weight, achieved using aluminum alloy in its construction, per the report.

The Type 22 is equipped with jamming flares, a six-barreled 30 mm gun system and two sets of quadruple launchers for a total of eight YJ-83 anti-ship missiles, giving the Type 22 an anti-ship firepower close to a frigate more than ten times larger than the missile boat, CCTV reported.