The United States has deployed the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to the Philippine Sea, a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, as China conducted military exercises near Taiwan earlier this week.
All three of China’s aircraft carriers remained pierside, including two “flattops” that are operational but did not join the war games near Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory. A Japanese helicopter destroyer, the Kaga, which is undergoing conversion into the country’s first aircraft carrier since World War II, returned to Japan following trials at sea with fighter jets off the U.S. West Coast and a stopover at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
Newsweek‘s weekly update maps aircraft carrier movements in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. As of December 13, the locations of 11 vessels were publicly available via military disclosures or open-source satellite imagery. The U.S. military has the world’s largest aircraft carrier fleet, with 11 in service. China ranks second with three “flattops.”
U.S. Navy
USS Carl Vinson: Philippine Sea
Photos published by the U.S. Navy showed the Carl Vinson conducted routine flight operations on Thursday in the Philippine Sea, which borders the first island chain to the west—part of a strategic maritime containment plan designed to counter any threat from China—extending from Japan southward to the Philippines via Taiwan.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier departed from its West Coast home port—Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California—on November 18 for a deployment to the Pacific Ocean.
USS George Washington: Yokosuka, Japan
The Japan-based George Washington remained pierside at Yokosuka naval base, its home port in the Greater Tokyo Area, during its second deployment to the East Asian nation as of Friday, according to a local government website that tracks port visits made by U.S. nuclear-powered warships.
The aircraft carrier returned to Yokosuka on November 22, following a 2,117-day overhaul in Virginia. The 100,000-ton warship was previously stationed at Yokosuka from 2008 to 2015.
USS Abraham Lincoln: Eastern Pacific Ocean
Photos published by the U.S. Navy showed the Abraham Lincoln has departed from the Western Pacific Ocean as it was conducting routine operations in the Third Fleet’s area of operations on Wednesday. The Third Fleet’s operating area covers the eastern part of the Pacific.
In mid-November, the aircraft carrier left the waters of the Middle East. It had been operating in the region since late August, when the Pentagon retasked it from its scheduled Seventh Fleet deployment in the Western Pacific Ocean amid tensions between Israel and Iran.
USS Ronald Reagan: Eastern Pacific Ocean
Photos published by the U.S. Navy showed the Ronald Reagan was in the Third Fleet’s operating area on Wednesday.
USS Nimitz: Bremerton, Washington
A photo posted by a ship spotting account on X (formerly Twitter) showed the Nimitz remained pierside at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, part of Naval Base Kitsap, in Bremerton, Washington, on Wednesday.
USS Theodore Roosevelt: San Diego, California
A satellite image captured on Tuesday showed the Theodore Roosevelt remained pierside at North Island. The aircraft carrier returned to its home port from an overseas deployment in mid-October.
People’s Liberation Army Navy
CNS Liaoning: Qingdao, Shandong
The latest clear satellite image of the Liaoning, which is the Chinese military‘s first operational aircraft carrier, showed it was pierside at its base in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province, on December 7.
CNS Shandong: Sanya, Hainan
The latest satellite image of the Shandong, the second Chinese “flattop,” showed it was pierside at its base in Sanya, in China’s southern Hainan province, on December 7.
CNS Fujian: Shanghai
The Fujian, China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, shows it was pierside at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard on Monday, following its fifth sea trial. The Chinese Defense Ministry said it will gradually conduct subsequent tests.
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
JS Kaga: Seto Inland Sea, Japan
Open-source ship tracking data showed the Kaga on Friday was underway in the Seto Inland Sea, a body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan.
Its namesake was an aircraft carrier that launched the air raid on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which led the U.S. to declare war on Japan. Its recent visit to Hawaii serves as a sign of the current deep political and military trust in the U.S.-Japan alliance.
JS Izumo: Yokohama, Japan
Japanese media reported that the Izumo, the sister ship of the Kaga, remained at a shipyard in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. Its conversion to a light aircraft carrier is scheduled to be completed in 2027, meaning it will remain dock at the shipyard for the next three years.
The post Map Shows US and China’s Aircraft Carriers in Pacific This Week appeared first on Newsweek.
