China Has Erected Mock-Ups Of US Carriers, Destroyers At New Missile Testing Range In A Remote Desert

The Chinese military is using replicas of U.S. aircraft carriers and other vessels, reportedly for missile target practice, at a weapons-testing facility in a remote desert in the northwest of the country.

Satellite images obtained by Colorado-based space technology company Maxar Technologies, dated Sunday, shows targets in the shape of an aircraft carrier and two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers sitting on a railway track, reported USNI News.

The mock-ups were reportedly part of the new target range developed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Taklamakan Desert in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

It is also near a former target range built by China to test the earlier versions of its "carrier killer" DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile. The carrier killer, which was test-launched into the South China Sea last year, was reportedly described by top officials in the U.S. Navy as an "unmistakable message."

The U.S. Seventh Fleet, which patrols the Indo-Pacific, has deployed types of aircraft carriers and destroyers similar to the mock-ups.

The satellite images show the carrier target appearing to "be a flat surface without the carrier’s island, aircraft lifts, weapons sponsons or other details." The outline of the carrier stands out from the surrounding desert on the radar.

The warship targets are more elaborate, with many upright poles positioned on them, possibly for instrumentation, the report added. There is also an extensive rail system in the facility.

According to the South China Morning Post, the site is clear to satellites, which suggests that Beijing is "trying to show Washington what its missile forces can do."

A report added that the sophistication of the target also implies that the "PLA is continuing to invest in deterrents to limit the efficacy of U.S. naval forces close to China — in particular targeting the U.S. carrier fleet."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was quoted at a daily briefing Monday that he had no information about the images. "I’m not aware of the situation you mentioned," Wang said.

This comes as the threat of war looms in the Pacific over China's recent aggression toward Taiwan. In addition to sending a record number of warplanes to the self-ruled island nation's air-defense zone, the Chinese premier also called for the reunification of Taiwan with the mainland.

Though President Joe Biden has publicly affirmed a U.S. commitment to defend Taiwan twice, Washington has a long-held policy of "strategic ambiguity" over the role the U.S. would play in the event of a military conflict between China and Taiwan.

The Pentagon had recently issued a report which said China was expanding its nuclear force much faster than U.S. officials had predicted. That appears designed to enable Beijing to match or surpass U.S. global power by mid-century, the report said.