China builds replicas of U.S. military ships in the desert

First joint maritime patrol of Russia and China 0:50

(CNN) – The Chinese military built replicas in the shape of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and U.S. warships, possibly for target practice, according to Maxar satellite images reviewed by the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI, for its acronym in English).

Satellite images of the Xinjiang region of northwest China appear to show a full-scale outline of a “Ford-class” aircraft carrier currently being built for the United States Navy, and the outlines of at least two class guided missile destroyers. Arleigh Burke at a new shooting range complex in the Taklamakan Desert, according to the USNI, a private nonprofit professional military association.

The complex has been used repeatedly for ballistic missile tests, according to the USNI and Maxar Technologies, a space technology company.

“This new firing range shows that China continues to focus on anti-aircraft carrier capabilities, with an emphasis on US Navy warships,” USNI reported.

Armies around the world regularly build mock-ups of real-world targets, such as landmarks, warships, and aircraft carriers.

China’s anti-ship ballistic missile programs are overseen by the Rocket Force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLARF). CNN contacted the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense for comment.

According to latest Pentagon assessment On China’s military and security developments, Beijing is rapidly expanding its arsenal and military capabilities. In 2020 alone it launched more than 250 ballistic missiles for testing and training, “more than the rest of the world combined,” according to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon report came amid rising tensions over China’s military maneuvers in the Pacific, and was released hours after the US’s highest-ranking general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. warned that China’s military progress was “one of the greatest shifts in global geostrategic power that the world has witnessed.” A senior defense official who spoke to journalists about the report took a similar stance.

CNN contacted the Pentagon regarding the Maxar satellite images.

Beijing claims almost the entire vast South China Sea as its sovereign territory and in recent years has intensified its efforts to secure its hold on these resource-rich waters, transforming a series of dark reefs and atolls into heavily fortified artificial islands and increasing its naval activity in the region.
However, its territorial ambitions are disputed by at least five other countries, and have been squarely rejected by Washington.

In August 2020, China launched a series of ballistic missiles into the South China Sea, as tensions with Washington over the disputed waterway escalated. State media made several detailed references to the launches, involving the DF-21D and DF-26 missiles, both touted in the country’s propaganda as highly accurate and capable of hitting moving ships.

“China’s DF-26 and DF-21D are the world’s first ballistic missiles capable of targeting large and medium ships, which has earned them the title of ‘aircraft carrier killers,'” the state-run daily said at the time. Global Times, citing military observers.

– CNN’s Oren Liebermann and Brad Lendon contributed to this report.

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