beijingwalker
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China defeated US in the development of Fleet of Small Warships, Advanced Jetfighters and Surface to Air Missiles
December 1, 2011
December 1, 2011
Ten years ago, the U.S. Navy set about building a new class of small, cheap, numerous Littoral Combat Ships meant to dominate dangerous coastal waters. But after a decade of politics and design-by-committee, the LCS has turned out to be anything but small, cheap and numerous. LCS is the wrong ship at the wrong time, retired Navy Cmdr. John Patch wrote.
On the other side of the Pacific, the Navys biggest maritime rival, faced with the same requirement for small, cheap, numerous ships, quickly produced exactly that. The result is the Peoples Liberation Army Navys triple-hull Type 022 missile boat, a thoroughbred ship-killer, according to Patch.
To some observers, the PLAN missile boat or, more to the point, packs of these boats poses yet another major Chinese threat to U.S. power in the Pacific. Eighty-three Type 022s firing more than 640 anti-ship missiles in quick salvos represent a serious cause for concern, according to retired Navy Cmdr. George Root.
To others, the diminutive Type 022s look like mere juicy targets for American helicopters and submarines. They cite the extremely poor combat record of small-missiles boats doing battle with larger vessels and aircraft.
One thing is indisputable. The Type 022 is a potential success story on how to field small combatants, Patch wrote. Its merits in combat remain to be seen, but at least the ship exists to perform a combat role. The same cannot be said of the huge fleet of LCSs the U.S. Navy thought it would have by now.
Seven-Year Sprint
In just seven years, the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy has built 83 of the 400-ton Type 022s at an estimated cost of $40 million per ship. And production continues at a high rate in several shipyards. The U.S. Navy, by comparison, has finished just two LCS in the same span of time, each at a cost of more than $600 million.
The Chinese ships sport eight anti-ship missiles apiece plus defensive guns and surface-to-air missiles. The American vessels, lightly armed in their own right, are designed to accommodate plug-and-play weapons kits, none of which are complete.

