What's Going On With This?
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Just spotted by satellite: full-scale mock-up of a US aircraft carrier in a desert in NW China.
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75 meters is a little short, isn't it?
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I suppose you could try targeting a linearly moving large target with a ballistic missile vice a guided one?? But that doesn't seem very technologically hard to do with the tech we humans have today so its a bit mysterious why they would need that type of target on a rail system. I could see some benefit in testing satellite tracking to see how close they could get GPS to work on something the speed at which ships move. But I'm not sure that's any great challenge today either. Maybe the hacking of enemy assets to use in their own targeting uses. They might try it out in that desert. Just brainstorming.
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When asked for comment the Chinese said " We don't know what your talking about."
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They are preparing for war and we are whistling past the graveyard.
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It could be for landing and take off procedures to train pilots Or deck crews. It could also be a missile range target. It’s not shaped like a Nimitz or Gerald Ford class carrier. It’s only about half the length of an escort carrier if 75 meters is accurate. It’s tiny in relative comparison to a modern naval vessel.
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You are exactly right. It is a not to scale generic carrier-shaped object for some training purpose.
I profess no expertise with respect to naval strategy, tactics, or much else to speak of, but I think it is worth saying that just as the battleship was an obsolete concept in the years leading up to WWII, so then is the aircraft carrier at the dawn of the age of unmanned military airpower. They're just fine for cruising the Med and launching strikes over Bosnia or some other meaningless real estate wherein we should have no interest, projecting political presence, etc. Against a real adversary, one with the time, resources (such as this nifty desert facility) and inclination for training, and strategic thought, they are floating coffins for thousands of sailors. They are big, beautiful relics of a gone age, war with Japan in the Pacific.
In thinking about slugging it out toe-to-toe with China it might help to remember we could kill a BILLION of them and they would still outnumber us. I'm less worried about their anti-ship training and more about our own failure to use our real strengths for national security. Think economics. There are a lot of them and like everybody else they get restless when they don't have much to do. We're the folks that buy what they produce, own the real estate their successful entrepreneurs purchase as safe haven wealth, have the colleges the smart ones want to attend or send their kids to. We have got to win the next "big one" with brain power. Looking at the clowns in Washington, this old man is worried (notwithstanding the good ship Harvey Milk)
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This was all over the news I read yesterday.
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www.reuters.com
www.thedrive.com
"In August 2020, single examples of the DF-21D and DF-26 reportedly struck a moving target vessel sailing near the Paracel Island chain, in the PLA’s first known demonstration of an actual long-range ASBM capability." (Note: I think these were long-range 1,000 and 1,800 mile tests).
![Vehicle Motor vehicle Tire Asphalt Automotive tire]()
I think this map summarizes their concept of maritime "anti-access/area-denial" strategy.
![Eye Human body Font Circle Pattern]()
Note re long-range Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBMs):
"Overall, whatever their delivery platform, ASBMs provide a powerful new variable in the maritime battlespace. Being able to maneuver dynamically during reentry and flying at hypersonic speeds and steep angles of descent, these types of missiles are immune to all but the highest-performance defensive weaponry, and even that is questionable. Providing the ASBMs work as advertised, in a time of crisis they could push U.S. carrier strike groups far enough from Chinese shores to make their strike fighters and cruise missiles useless. In this way, ASBMs are a cornerstone of China’s anti-access/area-denial maritime strategy."
My opinion? They are testing these types of advanced capabilities on realistic targets and loudly signaling to the US Navy that our aircraft carriers and other capital ships would be vulnerable anywhere around China - in the event hostilities take place over Taiwan, etc. This is going to make tensions worse, and certain assumptions re global US Naval capabilities will likely have to be re-visited based on their long-range, 'hypersonic' missile advancements. It's not good.
China builds mockups of U.S. Navy ships in area used for missile target practice
China's military has built mockups in the shape of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and other U.S. warships, possibly as training targets, in the desert of Xinjiang, satellite images by Maxar showed on Sunday.
China’s Giant Moving Warship Target In The Desert Shows How Seriously It’s Taking The Naval Arms Race
China is expending considerable effort and resources to drastically increase the fidelity of its desert-based anti-ship weapons targets.
www.thedrive.com
I think this map summarizes their concept of maritime "anti-access/area-denial" strategy.
Note re long-range Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBMs):
"Overall, whatever their delivery platform, ASBMs provide a powerful new variable in the maritime battlespace. Being able to maneuver dynamically during reentry and flying at hypersonic speeds and steep angles of descent, these types of missiles are immune to all but the highest-performance defensive weaponry, and even that is questionable. Providing the ASBMs work as advertised, in a time of crisis they could push U.S. carrier strike groups far enough from Chinese shores to make their strike fighters and cruise missiles useless. In this way, ASBMs are a cornerstone of China’s anti-access/area-denial maritime strategy."
My opinion? They are testing these types of advanced capabilities on realistic targets and loudly signaling to the US Navy that our aircraft carriers and other capital ships would be vulnerable anywhere around China - in the event hostilities take place over Taiwan, etc. This is going to make tensions worse, and certain assumptions re global US Naval capabilities will likely have to be re-visited based on their long-range, 'hypersonic' missile advancements. It's not good.
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6,360 Posts
They have full sized targets too, not just carriers but cruiser/destroyers as well.
China builds mockups of U.S. Navy ships in area used for missile target practice
China's military has built mockups in the shape of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and other U.S. warships, possibly as training targets, in the desert of Xinjiang, satellite images by Maxar showed on Sunday.
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60 Posts
We don't have a President who knows his A$$ from a hole in the ground and has nuclear football
24/7 " come on man "
24/7 " come on man "
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2,077 Posts
Send the new oiler SS Harvey Milk there to lube up the tracks maybe it will run off the rails.
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554 Posts
Like at least the camo paint job!This was all over the news I read yesterday.
China builds mockups of U.S. Navy ships in area used for missile target practice
China's military has built mockups in the shape of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and other U.S. warships, possibly as training targets, in the desert of Xinjiang, satellite images by Maxar showed on Sunday."In August 2020, single examples of the DF-21D and DF-26 reportedly struck a moving target vessel sailing near the Paracel Island chain, in the PLA’s first known demonstration of an actual long-range ASBM capability." (Note: I think these were long-range 1,000 and 1,800 mile tests).China’s Giant Moving Warship Target In The Desert Shows How Seriously It’s Taking The Naval Arms Race
China is expending considerable effort and resources to drastically increase the fidelity of its desert-based anti-ship weapons targets.
View attachment 462704
I think this map summarizes their concept of maritime "anti-access/area-denial" strategy.
View attachment 462705
Note re long-range Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBMs):
"Overall, whatever their delivery platform, ASBMs provide a powerful new variable in the maritime battlespace. Being able to maneuver dynamically during reentry and flying at hypersonic speeds and steep angles of descent, these types of missiles are immune to all but the highest-performance defensive weaponry, and even that is questionable. Providing the ASBMs work as advertised, in a time of crisis they could push U.S. carrier strike groups far enough from Chinese shores to make their strike fighters and cruise missiles useless. In this way, ASBMs are a cornerstone of China’s anti-access/area-denial maritime strategy."
My opinion? They are testing these types of advanced capabilities on realistic targets and loudly signaling to the US Navy that our aircraft carriers and other capital ships would be vulnerable anywhere around China - in the event hostilities take place over Taiwan, etc. This is going to make tensions worse, and certain assumptions re global US Naval capabilities will likely have to be re-visited based on their long-range, 'hypersonic' missile advancements. It's not good.
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210 Posts
Rather reminds me of how the Japanese prepped for Pearl harbor! Number one rule of war: Never underestimate your enemy...
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