Subtle Warning? China Builds Mock-Ups Of US Naval Vessels In Missile Testing

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

Satellite images show the Chinese military erected the mock-ups on 6-meter-wide rail tracks which would allow the mock-ups to be moved, simulating moving vessels.

The independent U.S. Naval Institute(USNI) said on its website that the mock-ups of US ships were part of a new target range developed by the People's Liberation Army.

"This new range shows that China continues to focus on anti-carrier capabilities, with an emphasis on US Navy warships," USNI reported.

China now has the world's largest navy and is preparing to launch a new high-tech aircraft carrier by February, the Pentagon has also revealed.

Beijing has 'numerically the largest navy in the world with an overall battle force of approximately 355 ships and submarines, with expectations to deploy 460 warships by the end of the decade,' the Defense Department said last Wednesday in its annual report on China.

That compares with 296 warships at the US Navy's disposal, 69 vessels operated by the Royal Navy and 295 boats deployed by the Russian Navy.

Beijing is expected to add a third aircraft carrier in early 2022, dubbed Type-003, with satellite images from the shipyard published today indicating that it will rival the American super carriers.

China's navy and coast guard are also adding new vessels at a record pace, concentrating them in the South China Sea, the strategic waterway that China claims virtually in its entirety.

While the US Navy remains predominant, its resources are divided between the Indo-Pacific, the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean and other regions where American interests lie. 

Beijing is investing heavily not just in conventional warfare but also 'focusing on information, cyber, and space and counterspace operations,' the report states.

Pentagon press secretary John F. Kirby responded to the report at a press conference on Monday.

"What we're concerned about ... is the increasing intimidation and coercive behavior of the Chinese military in the Indo-Pacific, and also the coercive tactics they're using, even using economic tools around the world to bend other nations to their will or to their view of what's in their best interest," Kirby said.

"We're focused on developing the capabilities, the operational concepts, making sure we have the resources and the right strategy in place so that we can deal with China as the No. 1 pacing challenge."

China's military is a source of growing concern. The Pentagon released a report this month claiming that China is expanding its nuclear force much faster than predicted just a year ago. This nuclear program appears designed to enable Beijing to match or surpass U.S. global power by mid-century, the report said.

"The PLA's evolving capabilities and concepts continue to strengthen China's ability to 'fight and win wars' against a 'strong enemy' -- a likely euphemism for the United States," the report said.

In 2020 alone, the People's Liberation Army launched more than 250 ballistic missiles for testing and training -- "more than the rest of the world combined," according to the Pentagon. In August 2020, China launched a series of tests involving DF-21D and DF-26 missiles which are touted in the Chinese media as  'aircraft carrier killers.'

Last month, China surprised US military experts when it tested a hypersonic missile that is capable of carrying a nuclear payload and potentially has a range of some 25,000 miles and can operate in space. It means the missile can theoretically hit anywhere on Earth with almost no way to stop it.

Mounting concern about China's nuclear capabilities comes as Beijing continues to build up its conventional military forces and engages in increasingly assertive military activity near Taiwan. Some experts are concerned that the fiasco in Afghanistan has bolstered China's timeline for invasion of the island nation.

Beijing's mouthpiece media has been warning that it is 'only a matter of time' before the island falls into their hands and that World War Three could be triggered 'at any time'.

Satellite images recently showed how China has upgraded military air bases close to Taiwan, in the latest hint at potential invasion plans. The images come after the People's Liberation Army air force launched 149 sorties into Taiwanese air defense identification zone (ADIZ) last month - a record number.

With the threat of hypersonic missiles now looming over any potential invasion, US plans to aid Taiwan could come at great cost.