In the desert? For optical targeting from space? That and other disturbing constructs here.
This makes more sense if you recall that China made a scale mockup of the Himalayan approaches to India for helicopter practice. Trying to find the link….
UPDATE: Ah, here it is:
The Chinese have been building huge structures in the desert for a long time. Back in 2006, they built this 1:20 scale model of disputed border region between China and India. That’s a terrain model 0.7 kilometer wide by almost 1 kilometer tall. Uncanny. Why would they build such a model of a terrain? To play a 1:20 scale war with 1:20 scale tanks? Mind boggling.
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Snide comment about the 1:20 scale tank aside, the US Navy/USMC does this to just not on such a grand scale. There’s a hangar on NAS North Island with a scale model of the california coastline that is used for familiarizing pilots and ship crews.
Coming into a beach-head or LZ blacked-out is a lot easier if you can get a good idea of the “sight picture” before hand.
Same reason counter terror forces have always run through scenarios, but in reverse. If you can’t run through a building, then an outline’s better than nothing. If you can’t run through a scale outline, then at least you can get an idea of what turns you need to make and the relative number of steps involved.