China sent all of its operational aircraft carriers to sea this week, while a United States “flattop” remained in the Philippine Sea, a marginal sea in the Western Pacific Ocean.
This came as the Pentagon released its annual report on Chinese military power that said Beijing deployed an aircraft carrier beyond the first island chain, a north-south blockade formed by Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines under a U.S. defense concept, three times during the year, a record number for a calendar year.
Newsweek‘s weekly update maps aircraft carrier movements in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. As of December 20, the locations of 11 vessels were publicly available via military disclosures or open-source satellite imagery. The U.S. military has the largest aircraft carrier fleet in the world, with 11 in service. China ranks second with three “flattops.”
USS Carl Vinson: Philippine Sea
According to a photo published by the U.S. Navy, the Carl Vinson continued to operate in the Philippine Sea as of Friday. The aircraft carrier received additional F-35C Lightning II stealth fighter jets last week, following a Chinese war game conducted around Taiwan.
Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nate Jordan/U.S. Navy
USS George Washington: Yokosuka, Japan
The George Washington remained pierside at Yokosuka naval base, its home port in the Greater Tokyo Area, during 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.
USS Abraham Lincoln: Eastern Pacific Ocean
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kassandra Alanis/U.S. Navy
According to a photo published by the U.S. Navy, the Abraham Lincoln was underway in the Third Fleet’s area of operations, which covers the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean. The aircraft carrier was returning from a surge deployment in the Middle East.
USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan: Bremerton, Washington
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
The latest clear satellite image of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, which is part of Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, appeared to show that two aircraft carriers, the Nimitz and the Ronald Reagan, pierside at the shipyard on December 15.
According to a ship spotting account on X, formerly Twitter, the Nimitz was pierside at the shipyard on December 11 and the Ronald Reagan sailed into Bremerton two days later.
USS Theodore Roosevelt: San Diego
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
A satellite image captured on Wednesday showed the Theodore Roosevelt, which returned from an overseas deployment in mid-October, remained pierside at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.
CNS Liaoning: Bohai Sea
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
The latest satellite image of the Liaoning, which is China’s first operational aircraft carrier, showed it was conducting training in the Bohai Sea off northeastern China on Monday.
CNS Shandong: South China Sea
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
The latest satellite image of the Shandong, which is the second operational aircraft carrier of the Chinese navy, showed it was sailing toward a military exercise area off the coast of China’s southern Hainan province in the South China Sea on Tuesday.
CNS Fujian: Shanghai
The Fujian, China’s most advanced but yet-to-be-commissioned aircraft carrier, remained pierside at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard on Tuesday, following its fifth sea trial.
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
JS Kaga: Kure, Japan
🇺🇸米国ｻﾝ･ﾃﾞｲｴｺﾞ沖でｽﾃﾙｽ戦闘機F-35Bの運用試験から帰国し、呉基地に入港する🇯🇵海上自衛隊ﾍﾘｺﾌﾟﾀｰ搭載護衛艦「かが DDH-184」
(2024/12/15早朝撮影) pic.twitter.com/lsJnapaaKE— モリジュン (@HNlEHupY4Nr6hRM) December 16, 2024
The Kaga, which is a helicopter destroyer undergoing conversion into the country’s first aircraft carrier since World War II, arrived at Kure naval base in Hiroshima Prefecture on December 15. The prefecture is in the southwestern part of Japan’s main island of Honshu.
It returned to Japan following trials at sea with fighter jets off the U.S. West Coast and a stopover at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 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.
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 docked at the shipyard for the next three years.
