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In November 2021, satellite images of the area located in the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China, were published online, showing large-scale models of two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and an aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford project. At the same time, these objects were placed on rails 6 meters wide – these devices are supposed to be necessary to simulate the movement of the ship.
The other day, the Chinese television channel CCTV showed footage of an anti-ship ballistic missile hitting a mock-up of an American aircraft carrier. They show its launch and hitting a conditional target. It is possible that the DF-21D or DF-26B missiles, which are positioned by the PLA as "aircraft carrier killers," were used as a means of destruction.
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- it is said in the Western press, indicating that Iran had previously done the same thing by creating a 2/3 scale model of a Nimitz-type aircraft carrier.
At the same time, Western observers question the possibility of successfully using a ballistic missile on a real moving ship, which is also equipped with air defense systems and can also rely on escort support.
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Back when he was chief of staff of the French Navy, Admiral Christophe Prazuk did not hide his skepticism about Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles, saying in 2018 that these weapons were originally intended to destroy stationary targets.
According to him, let's say that someone invented a rocket launched from a distance of 1000 km from an aircraft carrier and flying at a speed of Mach 6. It will take her 6 minutes to hit the target. However, the ship is moving at a speed of 20 knots or 10 m/s, that is, in 6 minutes it will move 3.6 km.
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- the admiral noted.
As he explained, the only way to correct targeting is to use onboard sensors. But the huge speed is a limiting factor for finding a target in a timely manner, which will require reducing it to Mach 1 or 2. However, a drop in speed to such values will allow the missile to be intercepted.
