Newly released satellite images show China has built a replica of a U.S. Navy destroyer at a remote missile-testing site in the Taklamakan Desert.
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The image, captured in May 2026 and released Wednesday, shows a structure resembling an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer at a test range in Xinjiang. The ship appears to mirror a destroyer currently used by the U.S. Seventh Fleet, which operates in the Western Pacific and waters surrounding Taiwan.
Joseph Wu, co-founder of the Taiwan Defense Studies Initiative, first identified the structure.
Debris from what appeared to be earlier missile tests was visible around the mock ship. Based on the available information, analysts assessed that the replicas are being used as targets for China’s military as it tests new anti-ship weapons.
The discovery comes with increased military activity and rising tensions around Taiwan.
Earlier this month, Taiwan test-fired dozens of practice rockets from U.S.-supplied HIMARS launchers into the Taiwan Strait during a drill simulating a Chinese invasion. It was Taiwan’s first live-fire exercise of that kind on the coast facing China.
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On Wednesday, the de facto British, French and German embassies in Taipei issued a rare joint statement expressing concern about recent Chinese coast guard patrols in waters east of Taiwan. The statement said the patrols threatened regional stability and freedom of navigation.
The latest discovery is not the first time satellite images have shown China building targets resembling U.S. military assets. In 2021, the U.S. Naval Institute reported that two similar destroyer models and an aircraft carrier had been seen at a testing range in the southeastern portion of the Taklamakan Desert near Ruoqiang.
Replicas of U.S. airfields and Taiwanese roads have also appeared in desert testing areas over the years.
Neither China’s Defense Ministry nor the U.S. Department of War responded to requests for comment.
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