CCTV Video Appears to Show Missile Hitting US Carrier Mock-Up in Desert
A CCTV-marked clip shows a missile striking a carrier-shaped mock-up in a desert. Online accounts call it a DF-26B, but the missile type is unconfirmed.
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A video with CCTV watermarks appears to show a ballistic missile hitting a mock-up of a U.S. aircraft carrier. Social media accounts call it a DF-26B, the anti-ship variant of the PLA Rocket Force’s Dongfeng-26.
Two caveats apply. The clip appears to match footage first reported in December 2024. We found no new CCTV release or U.S. statement this week, and nothing in the clip names the missile.
What the Video Shows
The 19-second clip opens with a missile rising from a desert launch site. An inset satellite view shows a ship-shaped target on rails. The clip then cuts to a carrier-shaped mock-up standing on the sand.
A large fireball then erupts at the mock-up. The clip carries CCTV.com and a second Chinese-language logo. It gives no date, place, missile name or damage assessment.
Not New, Reportedly
Zone Militaire reported on Dec. 24, 2024 that CCTV aired a launch and impact on a carrier mock-up. Its frames show the same launch and rail-target inset.
Zone Militaire said the model looks more like a Nimitz-class carrier than the Ford-class target seen in satellite images. It said the image quality did not allow the missile to be identified. We could not identify the CCTV program.
Where the Targets Sit
Maxar satellite images in November 2021 showed a full-scale carrier outline near Ruoqiang in the Taklamakan Desert, Xinjiang. They also showed two or more Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and a ship-sized target on 6-meter-wide rails, Reuters reported.
USNI said the site is near a range used to test early DF-21D missiles, according to 2013 press reports. In January 2024, Planet Labs images reportedly showed a Ford-class carrier target, The War Zone reported.
Marine Insight reported in July that satellite imagery showed a full-scale destroyer replica at the range. It said construction appears to have begun around October 2025.
The DF-26 and DF-26B
The DF-26 is a road-mobile, two-stage solid-fuel missile that can carry nuclear or conventional warheads. CSIS lists its range at 4,000 km. The Pentagon says China began fielding it in 2016.
The DF-26B is the anti-ship variant. China reportedly fired one, with a DF-21D, into the South China Sea on Aug. 26, 2020. The Pentagon confirmed the test without giving details, the Washington Times reported.
Experts question whether a ballistic missile can hit a moving warship. Analyst Carl Schuster told CNN in 2019 a video “doesn’t show a missile hitting a moving target at sea.” A mock-up proves little.
Reaction and Context
We found no Pentagon or U.S. Navy comment on the clip. Marine Insight cites analysts who say the targets fit a plan to deter U.S. carriers in a Taiwan crisis.
The footage circulates amid wider U.S.–China tensions. We found no Chinese government comment on the clip.
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