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China’s military
ChinaMilitary

First a fake US aircraft carrier and now China has models of F-35 fighter jets

  • Mock-ups of jets at a shooting range aimed at showing Chinese missiles can target US and Japan if they intervene over Taiwan, experts say
  • Chinese military also has targets in shape of US aircraft carrier and other ships at the shooting range in Xinjiang

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Satellite images show mock-ups of F-35 jets in the target area of the PLA shooting range. Photo: Kanwa International Journal
Minnie Chan
China has built mock-ups of American F-35 fighter jets at a remote shooting range, suggesting it is upping efforts to deter US and Japanese intervention in the Taiwan issue, experts said.
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Recent satellite imagery showed at least four mock-ups of F-35 Lighting II jets at the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force’s Korla Shooting Range in Xinjiang, the latest edition of monthly military magazine Kanwa International Journal reported.
Andrei Chang, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, said the models, made to scale, might be targets for the rocket force’s DF-16 and DF-21C medium-range ballistic missiles, and therefore a message to US Air Force bases in Japan.

With a range of 1,000km (621 miles), the DF-16 is one of the latest Dongfeng (or Orient Express) series of medium-range ballistic missiles. Chang said China had deployed the DF-21C, with a range of 2,000km, to its northeast, a new tactic that brought all of Japan’s territory within its coverage.

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China builds full-scale mock-ups of US warships in area used for missile target practice

China builds full-scale mock-ups of US warships in area used for missile target practice

“The Korla Shooting Range has been expanded in the past two years as the rocket force has reinforced training aimed at targets in Japan,” Chang said.

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“[The mock-ups and DF-21C deployment] could be seen as the PLA’s response to American marines’ increasing deployment of more F-35Bs to their airbase in Iwakuni, while Japan’s Air Self-Defence Force also sent more F-35As to Misawa Air Base.”

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