The United States has positioned three aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific Ocean this week, including two “flattops” underway in the region during their deployments.
Meanwhile, all three Chinese aircraft carriers were pierside at two bases and a shipyard. A Japanese helicopter destroyer, bearing the same name as an aircraft carrier that took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, concluded its visit to the Hawaiian port.
Newsweek‘s weekly update maps aircraft carrier movements in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. As of December 6, 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.”
USS George Washington: Yokosuka, Japan
The George Washington remained pierside at Yokosuka naval base, its home port in the Greater Tokyo Area, for its second deployment to Japan 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.
Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nate Jordan/U.S. Navy
USS Carl Vinson: Western Pacific Ocean
Photos published by the U.S. Navy showed the Carl Vinson on Thursday was underway in the Seventh Fleet’s area of operations, which covers the Western Pacific Ocean and the Eastern Indian Ocean.
The aircraft carrier left its home port—Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California—on November 18 for a deployment to the Pacific Ocean.
Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Sonny Escalante/U.S. Navy
USS Abraham Lincoln: Philippine Sea
Photos published by the U.S. Navy showed the Abraham Lincoln on Thursday was underway in the Philippine Sea, a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines. It was conducting routine operations in the Seventh Fleet’s area of operations.
In mid-November, the aircraft carrier was ordered to leave the waters in the Middle East. It has been operating in the region since late August, when the Pentagon retasked it from its scheduled Seventh Fleet’s deployment amid tensions between Israel and Iran.
USS Ronald Reagan: Eastern Pacific Ocean
Photos published by the U.S. Navy showed the Ronald Reagan on Thursday was underway in the Third Fleet’s area of operations, which covers the Eastern Pacific Ocean. It departed from Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, on Monday.
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
USS Nimitz: Bremerton, Washington
A satellite image captured on Thursday showed the Nimitz remained pierside at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, part of Naval Base Kitsap.
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
USS Theodore Roosevelt: San Diego, California
A satellite image captured on Thursday 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 Liaoning, which is the Chinese military‘s first operational aircraft carrier, was pierside at its home port in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province, on Wednesday. It was spotted by a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system equipped on a satellite.
On Monday, the aircraft carrier was spotted by satellites in the East China Sea north of Taiwan. A report claimed that China this weekend could conduct another military exercise around the self-ruled island, which Beijing views as part of its territory.
U.S. Geological Survey via Sentinel Hub
CNS Shandong: Sanya, Hainan
A satellite image captured on Tuesday showed the Shandong, China’s second operational aircraft carrier, remained pierside at its home port of Sanya in China’s southern Hainan province facing the South China Sea.
The PLANS-18 „Fujian“
has returned.Via @Alfa_Particle / SDF: „I don’t really want to jump the gun here but that sure looks like a jackpot to me. Doesn’t necessarily mean that it has conducted catapult trials with real aircraft though. Could just be a touch-and-go.“ pic.twitter.com/07NY7DhIQl
— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) December 3, 2024
CNS Fujian: Shanghai
The Fujian, China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier, was spotted arriving at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard on Tuesday following its fifth sea trial in the Bohai Sea off eastern China. The yet-to-be-commissioned warship left the shipyard in mid-November.
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
JS Kaga: Western Pacific Ocean
The Kaga left Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on November 29, continuing its homebound voyage. It was originally designed as a helicopter destroyer but is undergoing conversion to a light aircraft carrier and recently completed onboard trials with fighter jets off California.
The Kaga‘s 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 visit to Hawaii now serving as a sign of the deep political and military trust in the U.S.-Japan alliance.
JS Izumo: Yokohama, Japan
Japanese media reported on Friday 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.
