The United States faces a widening sea power gap in the Western Pacific Ocean. A second aircraft carrier is leaving the region in the coming days without an immediate replacement.
China has the second-largest carrier fleet in the world after the U.S. Navy. All three of its “flat-tops” have returned to base. Meanwhile in Australia, an aircraft carrier sent by NATO member Italy has departed and is headed to Japan for training.
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.
Newsweek‘s weekly update maps U.S. and Chinese aircraft carrier movements in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. As of August 9, the locations of at least nine ships were publicly available via military disclosures or open-source satellite imagery.
U.S. Navy
USS Abraham Lincoln: Western Pacific Ocean
The Abraham Lincoln departed Naval Base Guam on Thursday following a four-day port call to the island. It has been ordered to the Middle East amid rising tensions in the region between Iran and Israel.
The carrier is scheduled to replace sister ship USS Theodore Roosevelt, which remained on station in the Gulf of Oman as of Monday. The Roosevelt was previously deployed in the Western Pacific Ocean.
USS Carl Vinson: Eastern Pacific Ocean
The Carl Vinson was underway in the U.S. Third Fleet’s area of operations as of Wednesday, following its departure from Naval Station Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on August 2.
Japanese financial magazine Nikkei Asia quoted a Navy spokesperson as saying on Wednesday that the Vinson would return to its home port at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California.
The carrier was in Hawaii for the naval exercise Rim of the Pacific, which officially ended on August 1. It was previous thought to be available for tasking after RIMPAC.
The Navy did not immediately respond to Newsweek‘s request for comment.
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
USS Nimitz: Bremerton, Washington
The lead ship of the 100,000-ton Nimitz-class supercarriers transited Puget Sound in Washington state and arrived in Bremerton on August 3, according to the Navy and ship spotters. The carrier is homeported at the nearby Naval Base Kitsap.
USS George Washington and USS Ronald Reagan: San Diego, California
As of Monday, both carriers continued their hull swap while moored at Naval Air Station North Island, according to satellite imagery. The George Washington will later replace the Ronald Reagan as the forward-deployed U.S. Naval Forces Japan aircraft carrier at Yokosuka naval base.
The Washington will be the next U.S. carrier to be deployed to the Pacific, according to Nikkei Asia. It is expected to arrive in the fall.
U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eric Stanton
People’s Liberation Army Navy
CNS Shandong: Sanya, Hainan
The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong returned to the South China Sea last month following a 10-day deployment in the Philippine Sea, beyond the first island chain.
Open-source satellite imagery from August 4 captured the carrier docked in Sanya, in China’s southern island province of Hainan.
The Shandong is the second carrier in service with the Chinese navy.
CNS Fujian: Shanghai
The Fujian, the Chinese navy’s third and the most advanced aircraft carrier, returned to Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on July 28 following almost one month of trials in the Yellow and Bohai seas off northeastern China.
Satellite photographs showed the Fujian was still at the shipyard as of Wednesday.
Sentinel Hub
CNS Liaoning: Qingdao, Shandong
The country’s first operational aircraft carrier, the Soviet-built Liaoning, was still pierside on August 3 at its home base in Qingdao, according to satellite images. Qingdao is a Chinese port city in Shandong province facing the Yellow Sea, the northeastern section of the East China Sea.
Italian Navy
ITS Cavour: Southern Pacific Ocean
Italy‘s navy said on Thursday that the Cavour carrier group had departed Darwin in northern Australia following the end of the multilateral exercise Pitch Black. The NATO warship was scheduled to stay in Darwin until August 5 before continuing on to Japan.
Before reaching Japan, however, the Cavour is expected to train with the U.S. military in the Central Pacific Ocean, the Naval News website reported in June.
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