None of the U.S. Navy’s six Pacific-based aircraft carriers was underway in the Western Pacific Ocean this week after a second “flat-top” joined deterrence efforts in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, one of China‘s three aircraft carriers was operating in the South China Sea, and NATO member Italy sent its two-ship carrier strike group to Japan.
Aircraft carriers are major platforms used by countries to project sea power in support of national interests and foreign policy in their immediate region and beyond. The U.S. has the most aircraft carriers in the world with 11 in service. China has the second-largest carrier fleet.
Newsweek‘s weekly update maps U.S. and Chinese aircraft carrier movements in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. As of August 23, the locations of at least eight ships were publicly available via military disclosures or open-source satellite imagery.
U.S. Navy
USS Carl Vinson: San Diego, California
The Carl Vinson remained pierside in its homeport at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, according to photographs released by the Navy on Thursday.
Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kenneth Ostas/U.S. Navy
The Vinson returned to California earlier this month after taking part in the Rim of the Pacific or RIMPAC naval exercises off the Hawaiian islands.
USS George Washington: Eastern Pacific Ocean
The George Washington has been officially designated the Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier to Japan since August 1, for the second time in its service.
The Washington conducted a hull swap at North Island with the USS Ronald Reagan in preparation for its deployment to Yokosuka naval base this fall. Ship spotters observed the Washington departing North Island on Thursday.
USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan: Bremerton, Washington
Satellite imagery available on Monday showed both Nimitz-class aircraft carriers docked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, part of Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton in Washington state. The Ronald Reagan is undergoing a scheduled maintenance after nine years as the Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier in Japan.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Abraham Lincoln, both homeported at North Island, are in the Middle East. The U.S. Central Command announced the latter’s arrival on Wednesday, while the former was underway in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, satellite imagery showed.
Both aircraft carriers had sailed from America’s West Coast for scheduled deployments in the Pacific, but they were retasked by the Pentagon amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran.
With no immediate flat-tops available for deployment to the Western Pacific, where China’s hard power is on the rise, the U.S. Defense Department has dismissed concerns about any shortage of American capabilities in the region. Analyst say the Navy will struggle find like-for-like substitutes for its aircraft carriers.
People’s Liberation Army Navy
Sentinel Hub
CNS Liaoning: Qingdao, Shandong
China’s first operational aircraft carrier, the Soviet-built Liaoning, was still moored pierside at its home base in Qingdao on August 18, according to available satellite imagery.
CNS Shandong: South China Sea
On Wednesday, satellite photos showed the Shandong, the second carrier in service with the Chinese navy, underway south of Sanya, its home port on the southern island province of Hainan.
The aircraft carrier and three other warships operated in the Philippine Sea on August 12, Japan’s Joint Staff Office said last week. The carrier group returned from the area the next day.
CNS Fujian: Shanghai
The Fujian, the Chinese navy’s third and the most advanced aircraft carrier, remained at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard, where it was built, satellite photos showed on Thursday. The ship recently returned from nearly a month in the Yellow and Bohai seas off northeastern China, where it was testing various onboard systems.
Sentinel Hub
Italian Navy
ITS Cavour: Yokosuka, Japan
Kyodo via AP
Italian flat-top Cavour called at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base in Yokosuka on Thursday, 30 miles southwest of Tokyo, marking its first-ever port call in the country.
The NATO warship and its escort, the frigate ITS Alpino, will stay until August 27. At least one joint exercise is planned with the Japanese navy, including an anti-submarine drill.
While in the West Pacific, the Italian carrier conducted four days of bilateral operations in the Philippine Sea with the USS Dewey, one of the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Both ships held fixed-wing air defense training and combined anti-submarine warfare exercises.
The Cavour and the Alpino recently became the first Italian naval vessels to visit the strategic U.S. Pacific territory of Guam when they arrived for a brief port call earlier this month.
