MEDITERRANEAN SEA (June 16, 2010) — Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) sails through the Mediterranean Sea. Normandy deployed as part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group / U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matthew D. Williams/Released by Ensign Dusan Ilic
Communist China has constructed full-scale sized mockups of major U.S. warships, including an aircraft carrier, to use at a new target range complex as tensions between the U.S. and China continue to rise amid geopolitical issues in the South China Sea and responsibility for the coronavirus pandemic.
“The full-scale outline of a U.S. carrier and at least two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are part of the target range that has been built in the Ruoqiang region in central China. The site is near a former target range China used to test early versions of its so-called carrier killer DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles,” The U.S. Naval Institute reported. “This new range shows that China continues to focus on anti-carrier capabilities, with an emphasis on U.S. Navy warships. Unlike the Iranian Navy’s aircraft carrier-shaped target in the Persian Gulf, the new facility shows signs of a sophisticated instrumented target range.”
