A report said that the area is considered under Chinese army control, and several things resembling US warships have also been noticed there. It might have been used to practice missile strike training on debatable targets in Japan.  Many reports said that satellite images taken of the same area in mid-May showed an object that resembled an E-767 aircraft of the Tokyo Air Force. 

The fighter jet is an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) of the country’s Air Force. The new photo, taken on July 13, shows the object’s destruction, debris, and black burn marks. 

As of July 2, the thing was still visible in previous satellite pics, the report states. The exact timing of the event is fuzzy due to the weather, making it difficult to take images on some days. However, it looks like the object was destroyed in the first few days of July. 

Boeing produces the E-767, and only four exist, all deployed at Hamamatsu Air Base, Japan.

The four AWACS fighter jets controlled by the JASDF are “flying command pillars.” These are essential because they help detect enemy military movements in airspace far from conflict areas.

There has been speculation that Beijing is running these provokes to make plans for a conquer of Taiwan. To achieve this, China must limit the movements and capabilities of the US and its allies, including Japan.

The think is thought to have been destroyed sometime in the first half of July when Beijing and Moscow were r conducting military exercises close to Japan. On July 4, Russian and Chinese navy ships sailed into the area surrounding the Senkaku Islands. 

Is China increasing its Missile Power?

Tom Shugart, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, thinks a missile has been utilised in this new case. He added that if the mock target’s objective was to test a missile warhead’s capacity to identify and target particular high-value aircraft, that capability was successfully tested.

He claimed that if China has the missile capabilities implied by the photos, then the deployment of such a weapon could enhance the PLA’s capacity to attack important aircraft like the E-767.

Regarding how the object was destroyed, though, not every expert agrees. The fighter-shaped thing is still there.

Regardless, China destroyed the SDF mock-up after using it for training. Satellite images demonstrate that China has started dismantling the surrounding structures, including the runway and tarmac.

The images of these structures are the most recent example of how satellite imagery can reveal information about the strategic priorities of China’s covert military. Earlier satellite images showed the expansion of harbours, runways, and other indications of military base construction on islands in the South China Sea.

In 2013, multiple media reports said that a missile known as the “carrier killer,” the DF-21D, had destroyed a structure modelled after the body of an American aircraft carrier.