Ian Patrick, FISM News
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A report from the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) says that China is testing its anti-ship ballistic missiles on targets they built, which look almost exactly like American warships.
Using satellite images taken in October from Maxar Technologies, USNI News shows photos of a target range in the Ruoqiang region in the central part of China. Multiple ships used as target practice can be seen within the facility, including “a U.S. carrier and at least two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.”
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the rail terminal and target storage building in Ruoqiang county, China, Thursday, October 7, 2021. Bottom left is the aircraft carrier. pic.twitter.com/tNKKDBsCKc
— Warship World (@warshipworld) November 8, 2021
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a destroyer in the same area on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. pic.twitter.com/sx9f4lqhGs
— Warship World (@warshipworld) November 8, 2021
“This new range shows that China continues to focus on anti-carrier capabilities, with an emphasis on U.S. Navy warships,” the news outlet writes.
Bloomberg reports that the types of vessels being used as targets are deployed in the U.S. Seventh Fleet, and are commonly seen around the waters of Taiwan.
The images also show that the testing facility has a rail system included, indicating the Chinese military is also doing moving target practice.
USNI writes that the testing area was originally seen being built as far back as March or April of 2019. However, the testing site apparently went through “several rebuilds” before being dismantled in December of 2019. It wasn’t until September of 2021 that construction resumed and it was substantially completed in October.
China has multiple missile projects, including those for different anti-ship missiles. The Department of Defense released a graphic which shows the range of China’s different types of missiles, according to information available on January 1st of this year.
