Another Disturbing Discovery Found In Remote Chinese Desert As Concern Grows About China’s Military

New satellite images released this week appear to show that communist China’s military has constructed a second mockup of a U.S. aircraft carrier in a remote Chinese desert.

The news comes after a full-scale outline of a U.S. carrier and at least two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers were discovered several days ago at a target range.

The U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) reported:

The site consists of a single aircraft carrier target, miles from the nearest town in the Xinjiang region, according to photos provided to USNI News by satellite imagery company Maxar. The carrier target is about 300 miles away from a larger suspected missile range in the Taklamakan Desert, first reported by USNI News on Sunday. The two sites share similar characteristics and are aligned on a map with the carriers facing the same direction – as if in a convoy. Like the first, this new target shares the same dimensions as a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.

The outline of the second aircraft carrier does not appear to be a full-scale mockup, although it is still nearly 600 feet long. Construction on the second aircraft carrier mockup appears to have started over the summer.

The report added:

It’s clear that the models displayed are meant to represent the enemy forces in Chinese exercises. In the Chinese military, the opposing forces are labeled “blue,” while their own are red forces – the opposite of the U.S. and NATO.

Placing the targets in the interior allows the entire missile flight to take place over their own territory and gives China greater control of the airspace around the site. Keeping the tests away from the sea ensures that any debris cannot be recovered by other navies in the way it could from the ocean floor. Both factors will make it difficult to gather intelligence on the weapons tests.

The most recent Department of Defense report on China’s military capabilities included some of the following tidbits on weapons systems that the Chinese possess that could be used to target U.S. warships:

People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) conventionally armed CSS-5 Mod 5 (DF-21D) ASBM variant gives the PLA the capability to conduct longrange precision strikes against ships, including aircraft carriers, out to the Western Pacific from mainland China. The DF-21D has a range exceeding 1,500 km, is fitted with a maneuverable reentry vehicle (MaRV), and is reportedly capable of rapidly reloading in the field. The PLARF continues to grow its inventory of DF-26 IRBMs, which