@Rafi
What options even exist? Chinese, south african, russian etc. I definitely think a VLS can be added to the F-22P as far as space is concerned the only issues would cost and how much PN is willing to spend. The biggest question is if they do it for cheap or they are willing to spend to get more survivability. Either way i think a reasonable refit could be had but it involves much better cooperation with non-traditional defense suppliers (namely Russia and or S korea).
The Cheap:
As i have stated above, i would upgrade the sensors to something far more robust, specifically around the Smart Smk2. Then i would replace the Type 730s and the HQ-7A with Pantsir-ME. This will replace the 2 CIWS and 8 short range (15km) missiles with 3 CIWS with 2 guns each (6 total) and a total of 24 short/med range (20km) SAMs. I dont believe this upgrade would be cost prohibitive nor do i think the Russians would be averse to it.
Expensive:
I would replace the HQ-7A with a VLS (12-16 cell) this can be done by keeping the forward deck the HQ-7A currently sits on and putting most of the venting and duct work in that section.
It would essentially be the exact refit the Russians did for Steregushchiy class corvettes when the replaced the orginal Kashtan CIWS with a 12 cell VLS for 9M96E2/PolimentRedut missiles (which if im not mistaken are quad-packed)
(Steregushchiy class with Kashtan CIWS)
(Steregushchiy class with 12 cell VLS which is slightly raised from the original deck which the Kashtan sat upon).
These ships are smaller than F-22P (1800t vs 2500t standard load or 2200t vs 3100t full load) and still carry 8 kh-35 AShM and 12 cell vls (with what appears to be a quad packed 9m96e2 125km range missile). So the similar upgrade is possible for the F-22P ships given the similar forward deck and size of Kashtan vs Hq-7A.
The question is which vls and which missile... The options could include S. AFRICAN Umkhonto EIR (which has a 30km range), the Chinese HQ-16, The KS-SAM/K-SAAM/Cheolmae-2/Cheongung from SKorea/Russia, and the Russian Poliment Redut missile (9M96E/E2).
Personally i think the best option would be the Poliment Redut is the best option and given the relative size to range/altitude ratio. It will give PN fleet level coverage with 125km range and altitudes of 50km (35km for ballistic missiles) and they are supposed able to be to be quad-packed.
(9M96E and 9M96E2 on far right show quad packed setup). It would give the F-22P 48 (if 12 cells) to 64 (16 cells) missiles with 125km range. With that many missiles you could theoretically trade some of the vls tube SAMs for LACM or antisub rockets if the vls tubes are long enough. Or put ur AShM in the VLS tubes and replace the current C802A Launchers with 2x3 Harba/Babur 2/3 launchers and put 8 cells in the vls with C802A. Then i would add 6 HQ-10 on the Type 730s for 12 PDMs for an extra layer of protection.
That being said the 9M96E (40km range) and the KS-SAM co-developed with Russia based on 9M96E and also has a range of 40km would all be acceptable if the 9M96E2 was not available.