China Building Mockups Of US Warships For Possible Missile Target Practice, Satellite Images Show

The satellite images were captured by Maxar technologies, a Colorado-based satellite imagery company. The location was identified as Ruoqiang in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

This handout satellite image released by Maxar Technologies on November 8, 2021 shows a mobile target on a rail track in Ruoqiang county in the Taklamakan Desert, in China's western Xinjiang region on October 20, 2021. | AFP

New Delhi: Recent satellite images have shown that China has built a replica of US Navy warships in the country’s northwestern desert, news agency Associated Press reported.

According to the agency’s report, the mock-up was probably a way "China is equipping itself for a naval clash with the US". 

The satellite images were captured by Maxar technologies, a Colorado-based satellite imagery company. The images captured on Sunday show an outline of a US aircraft carrier.

The location from which the satellite captured the images was identified by Maxar as Ruoqiang, a Taklamakan Desert county in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

In a statement to Newsweek, Maxar Technologies said the images "detail the construction of a sophisticated weapons test range" in the desert, and that it "incorporates a number of simulated U.S. Navy Carrier strike group vessels as targets".

According to the US Naval Institute (USNI), an independent organisation, the mock-ups were a part of a new target range developed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). 

The USNI further claimed that it identified the features that were included in the apparent target including funnels and weapon systems. 

Amid the claims by Maxar Technologies and the USNI, Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that he has no knowledge regarding the images. “I’m not aware of the situation you mentioned,” the spokesperson said, as quoted by AP. 

United States defence officials have said that they are increasingly wary of China’s intention in connection with Taiwan, AP reported. The report said there has been an increase in the number of Chinese military flights over southwest Taiwan. 

China claims the island nation of Taiwan to be its own part and threatens to annex it, even by force. The US has extended support to Taiwan and according to reports, the country has deployed army troops in Taiwan.