At the beginning of the new year, a satellite from Planet Labs passed over the northwest of China, capturing a scene in a target area. The U.S. military, upon reviewing the photos, quickly understood the intentions of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
In this recent discovery, a satellite from Planet Labs identified a full-sized simulated target of an aircraft carrier in the Taklamakan Desert’s target area. The target closely resembled the next-generation U.S. aircraft carrier “Ford” currently in service. The target was approximately 1,085 feet long (about 330 meters), with a similar structure to the “Ford,” including a comparable island position. Additionally, there were some regularly arranged white dots around the “island” and the surrounding “deck,” purpose unknown but possibly used to simulate masts and radar antennas. Even the position of the catapult was nearly identical.
Regarding the satellite image captured by Planet Labs on January 1st, according to the special commentator for the “War Zone,” Joseph Trevisek, as conveyed by Chinese media, he first analyzed the function of these “masts.” He believed that these objects serve as reflectors, playing the role of simulating the radar reflection characteristics of an aircraft carrier more realistically and comprehensively. In this way, in the desert, there exists a “complete ‘phantom’ aircraft carrier,” and these “masts” can also accommodate other testing equipment. The “War Zone” suggests that if used properly, these “masts” could assist the PLA in developing new electronic countermeasures, radar guidance, and sensor equipment.
However, more significant than these details is the entire aircraft carrier target. Combining satellite images captured by Planet Labs over the past few months, this new target may have been under construction since November 2023, with a potentially longer existence. Indeed, since 2021, in the Taklamakan region, there have been instances of smaller aircraft carrier targets being built and dismantled, presumably for testing the PLA’s detection capabilities of carrier-sized targets at different altitudes.
Another larger target, also simulating the “Ford,” was discovered approximately 4.5 kilometers southeast of the newly found target. Though it had attracted attention and discussions two years ago, Trevisek believed that compared to the newly discovered target, the older target, while similar in size, lacked some crucial facilities, such as the introduced “masts.”
The target area is not limited to stand-ins for the “Ford”; even the “Arleigh Burke” class destroyer can find its shadow. Satellite images from Planet Labs show that at least one destroyer target has additional structural features, appearing more realistic from radar and satellite detection perspectives, resembling a real U.S. destroyer. The Taklamakan Desert also hosts targets simulating an entire military port, complete with docks, port facilities, and parked destroyers.
Clearly, such explicit actions are seen as a naked threat by the United States. These targets reflect the PLA’s decades-long trend of continuously developing more realistic targets for training and testing. The improved aircraft carrier targets indicate that the PLA is not content with testing how to track, detect, and locate U.S. aircraft carriers under visible light and infrared imaging conditions. Instead, they are determined to use satellite and hypersonic unmanned aerial vehicles to supplement radar detection, electromagnetic signal recognition, and positioning, enhancing the realism and authenticity of training and exercises.
The improved aircraft carrier targets also reveal that the PLA is continually making advancements in suppressing and attacking U.S. carrier formations. The PLA is not satisfied with land-based anti-ship ballistic missiles like the DF-21D and DF-26; they are developing air-based and sea-based cruise missiles, utilizing various launch platforms to enhance their three-dimensional anti-carrier capabilities, particularly with the rapid development of hypersonic anti-ship missiles.
High-speed missiles like the DF-17 and YJ-21 have genuinely shocked the U.S. military and think tanks, making them realize that the foundation the U.S. has relied on for decades—the carrier strike group—is becoming incredibly vulnerable due to American arrogance and shortsightedness. It is almost certain that it will not play the intended role in the future.
In October 2023, the Pentagon’s latest annual report on Chinese military capabilities stated that the PLA is developing space-based ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) capabilities, researching, purchasing, and equipping increasingly powerful satellites and space-based radar. These assets and tactical changes will enhance the PLA’s surveillance capabilities over U.S. carrier strike groups, amphibious task forces, overseas-deployed air force squadrons, and expeditionary forces. In other words, the Pentagon clearly recognizes that the PLA is establishing a comprehensive intelligence system for monitoring, detecting, and analyzing the threat levels of U.S. military activities in sea, land, and air.
From this perspective, it seems that the targets captured by Planet Labs in the Taklamakan Desert are just the PLA’s least significant means of responding to U.S. carrier strike groups. Moreover, the U.S. military already possesses a complete C4ISR system, continuously monitoring known or unknown critical Chinese military targets. Otherwise, how would a private company like Planet Labs, specializing in remote sensing satellite detection, know to focus its cameras on the desolate Taklamakan Desert?
Furthermore, shouldn’t the PLA establish such reconnaissance and intelligence systems? As of today, U.S. carrier strike groups continue to operate near China, cooperating with countries like the Philippines, posing threats to China’s sovereignty and territorial security. U.S. survey ships frequently enter and exit the South China Sea and East China Sea, mapping the seafloor topography and monitoring military and civilian vessels. U.S. reconnaissance planes deployed in Japan and South Korea also occasionally approach Chinese airspace, collecting electromagnetic signals and monitoring communication records within China.
Compared to the tangible threats posed by the United States to China’s national defense security, the establishment of targets by the People’s Liberation Army in the desert shooting range can be regarded as a rather limited response. (Wang Yanan)