Recent satellite images have caught a disturbing sight in the middle of the
Northern Chinese desert. Between miles and miles
of sand lies a series of mock-ups of a US Navy aircraft carrier and other warships.
It is believed that the fake vessels are being used to test a new powerful weapon:
the DF-21 missile, or Carrier Killer.
The strange footage has many experts wondering whether China has built or is in the process
of finishing an anti-ship ballistic missile designed to annihilate American Navy carriers.
Photographic Evidence
On November 7, 2021, the United States Naval Institute made a strange announcement.
According to the satellite imagery company Maxar, several photographs showed that the Chinese
military had just finished building mock-ups of US warships in the middle of the desert.
The satellite photographs, collected in late October by the private American company,
show a full-scale outline of a United States Navy
carrier and two Arleigh Burke-class destroyer vessels, among other items.
The large carrier mock-up appears to have a flat surface and to be devoid of islands,
lifts, weapons, or any other details. Although the mock-ups do not contain metal,
they are distinguishable as carriers due to their outline.
The satellite photos do not show any impact points in any of the models,
but the strange mock vessels -standing out like bullseyes in the surrounding Xinjiang desert-
are believed to be used for missile target practice.
The obtained images also include a 20-foot-tall rail system complete with a ship-sized target
painted on it, leading experts to believe that it could be used to simulate a steaming vessel.
Target Practice
Missiles are commonly tested in remote areas like deserts by several armies worldwide.
Although practicing strikes against at-sea targets offer more realistic conditions and
outcomes for training crews, they also risk being perceived as a provocation by other nations.
Analysis of other obtained satellite images from the Chinese findings shows
that the carrier structure began development in the spring of 2019, going through several
rebuilds and substantially dismantled for an unknown reason in December of that year.
The structure, however, came back to life in September of 2021
and was complete by early October, only weeks before the publication of the photos.
Still, this newly-built range shows that China continues to focus on its
anti-carrier capabilities with a clear emphasis on American Navy warships.
Aircraft carriers and destroyer vessels assigned to the US Navy's 7th Fleet
operating in the Indo Pacific region routinely patrol waters near China, usually carrying out
military exercises or freedom-of-navigation operations, all of which often anger Beijing.
Strong Assets
The Xinjiang desert base discovered by Maxar is not the first of its kind.
As far back as 2003, a sizable concrete-based pad -roughly the size of an aircraft carrier-
has been used as target practice for the Chinese. The slab, part of the Shuangchengzi
missile test range, has been used many times since and is frequently repaired.
However, the new base is much more evolved,
and the new ship targets are closer approximations of the ships they are supposed to represent.
According to the AllSource Analysis summary of the occurrence, the mock-ups' extensive detail
-including the placement on sensors in and around the model vessel-
signals that the area is intended for multiple uses over time.
China has a remarkable ability to conduct missile strikes against its adversaries,
especially in its neverending regional conflicts, and their anti-ship missile
programs are led and overseen by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force. Renamed in 2016,
the force has been in service since the Cold War.
The photographed site is near a former target range where China used to test different
kinds of intermediate-range anti-ship ballistic missiles, including DF-21, first released in 1991,
and the DF-26, released only a couple of years before the discovery of the base.
Often nicknamed Carrier Killer by its critics, the DF-26 is one of
the most substantial assets of the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force or PLARF arsenal,
and can also be used for both strikes against land-based targets and naval vessels.
The missile’s accuracy data, however, remains unclear.
As stated by the latest Department of Defense report on China's ever-growing military might,
the Carrier Killer missile: [QUOTE] "Gives the PLARF the
capability to conduct long range precision strikes against ships,
including aircraft carriers, out to the Western Pacific from mainland China."
In July of 2019, the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force
first conducted a live-fire launch of six of their Carrier Killer ballistic missiles
into the waters north of the Spratly Islands. And in addition to these missiles, China's army also
created air-and ship-launched anti-ship missiles that could be employed in a combat scenario.
When asked about the photographed mock-ups in the Northern desert, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman
for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that he was unaware of the situation.
Race With China
The released photographic evidence came amidst growing concerns over a
possible military conflict between the world's two largest economies.
Two years later, in November of 2021, the Pentagon released a report stating that China was expanding
its nuclear arsenal force much faster than once anticipated by Washington a year ago.
As stated by the report: [QUOTE] "The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force's
evolving capabilities and concepts continue to strengthen China's ability to 'fight and win wars'
against a 'strong enemy' – a likely euphemism for the United States."
The report seems to hint that Beijing will match,
or even surpass, the United States' global power in just a few decades. The document
also points to efforts by the PLARF to make their test training more realistic.
The rising military upgrade from China in recent years has been increasingly concerning to the
United States Army, especially as tensions between the two nations over Taiwan, the South China Sea,
and military dominance in the Indo Pacific remain high.
Many experts believe that these mock-ups clearly reflect China's
efforts to build anti-carrier capabilities, particularly against American vessels.
In addition, the photographic evidence of the new target practice base
comes amid concerns over Taiwan, the autonomous republic island claimed by Beijing,
which has been threatening to annex it by military force.
This island is provided with most of its weaponry by Washington, as US law requires that the
country must ensure Taiwan can defend itself, thus treating any threats as a matter of grave concern.
Due to the ongoing situation, US officials are increasingly wary of China
and its military intentions. In the past years, there has been an immense increase of Chinese
aircraft and vessels in the skies and seas around Taiwan, concentrating them in the
South China Sea, a strategic waterway that Beijing claims in its entirety.
Meanwhile, the United States and its allies are trying to be ready by stepping up naval patrol
in an effort to deter Beijing from taking action and gain control of the island.
Even though the US Navy remains predominant in the area thus far,
its vast resources are divided between the Indo-Pacific, the Persian Gulf,
the Mediterranean, and many other places of interest to Washington.
The Future of Chinese Desert Testing
Neighboring countries are highly concerned about China's desert and water missile testing.
However, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has consistently said that the United States will
make sure to defend the Philippines if it ever comes under attack through the South China Sea and
has warned China to cease its provocations. Still, the powerful nation continues to deny the testing.
Despite the growing concerns, several experts still believe
that China is far from creating an accurate anti-ship ballistic missile.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
concluded that the captured desert targets are not the final stage
and will undergo many more secret tests for further refinement in the future.
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