Newly released satellite imagery has revealed that China has constructed a replica of a U.S. Navy destroyer at a remote missile-testing site in the Taklamakan Desert.
The images, captured in May 2026 and made public this Wednesday, depict a structure resembling an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer situated at a test range in Xinjiang. The vessel appears to mirror one currently operated by the U.S. Seventh Fleet, which patrols the Western Pacific and waters near Taiwan.
Joseph Wu, co-founder of the Taiwan Defense Studies Initiative, was the first to identify this structure.
Debris from previous missile tests was observed surrounding the mock ship. According to available analyses, China’s military is utilizing such replicas as targets for testing new anti-ship weapons.
This development occurs amid heightened military activity and escalating tensions in the Taiwan region.
Earlier this month, Taiwan conducted a live-fire exercise by launching dozens of practice rockets using U.S.-supplied HIMARS launchers into the Taiwan Strait. The drills simulated a potential Chinese invasion and marked Taiwan’s first such exercise on the coast facing China.
On Wednesday, the de facto British, French, and German embassies in Taipei jointly issued a rare statement expressing concerns over recent Chinese Coast Guard patrols in waters east of Taiwan. They noted that these operations threaten regional stability and freedom of navigation.
The latest discovery is not isolated: satellite images have previously shown China constructing targets resembling U.S. military assets. In 2021, the U.S. Naval Institute reported sightings of two similar destroyer models and an aircraft carrier at a testing range in the southeastern portion of the Taklamakan Desert near Ruoqiang.
Replicas of U.S. airfields and Taiwanese roads have also been spotted in desert testing areas over the years.
Neither China’s Defense Ministry nor the U.S. Department of War has responded to requests for comment.
