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Athens · Tuesday, 13 October 2026

Asia-Pacific

China is building a US Navy mockup fleet to test new weapons [PHOTOS]

The US Naval Institute has released satellite images using MAXAR Technologies of full-size models of the US aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford and the US Navy destroyer class…

The US Naval Institute has released satellite images using MAXAR Technologies of full-size models of the US aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford and the US Navy destroyer class Arleigh Burke lined up in the Taklamakan Desert in central China.

Here in GEOPOLITIKI.COM we also made research and we were capable of also detecting the Chinese mockups in Taklamakan Desert using Sentinel-2 Satellite.

“The US aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford Chinese mockup” GEOPOLITIKI.COM Via Sentinel-2 L2A

The location where the US fleet mock-ups have appeared is located next to the test site where the Chinese Army (PLA) tested some versions of the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile that China calls the “killer of aircraft carriers”.

“The US Navy destroyer class Arleigh Burke Chinese mockup ” GEOPOLITIKI.COM Via Sentinel-2 L2A

Analyzing satellite images over the past few years, USNI experts came to the conclusion that the Mockup fleet appeared in the Chinese desert in 2019, and then was rebuilt several times indicating that PLA may have already tested missiles against these mockups.

This is not the first time that a United States aircraft carrier mockup was on display as in 2003, the People’s Liberation Army built a concrete deck the size of a Nimitz-class ship and repeatedly launched missile strikes against it.

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China OSINT Satellite Taklamakan US Navy