The two nuclear-powered supercarriers undertook joint exercises as tensions between China and the United States in the region remain high.

The U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered carrier USS Nimitz, which had its deployment extended last month, returning to the center East in light of continued tensions with Iran, is now within the South China Sea, where it sailed alongside its sister ship, USS Roosevelt , today. The two carriers and their respective strike groups operating together send a strong signal to China, which has been increasingly flexing its military muscles during this hotly disputed region in recent weeks.

The Navy said that the 2 carriers worked together in “a highly trafficked area to demonstrate the U.S. Navy’s ability to work in challenging environments” and conducted exercises aimed toward increasing interoperability, also as command and control capabilities. Roosevelt is a part of Carrier Strike Group 9 (CSG-9), which also includes, in part, Carrier Air Wing 11 (CVW-11), the Ticonderoga class cruiser USS Bunker Hill , and therefore the Arleigh Burke class destroyers USS Russell and USS John Finn. Nimitz’s CSG-11 consists of CVW-17, also because the Ticonderoga class USS Princeton and therefore the Arleigh Burke class USS Sterett.

“Training with Carrier Strike Group Eleven within the South China Sea may be a tremendously valuable opportunity,” said Navy flag officer Doug Verissimo, commander of CSG-9. “Through operations like this, we make sure that we are tactically proficient to satisfy the challenge of maintaining peace and that we are ready to still show our partners and allies within the region that we are committed to promoting a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”

 “We are committed to making sure the lawful use of the ocean that each one nations enjoy under law of nations ,” added Navy flag officer Jim Kirk, the commander of CSG-11. 

The newest dual-carrier maneuvers continue high-profile U.S. Navy operations within the South China Sea, which are, in part, intended as a counter to growing Chinese assertiveness within the region. Using the “nine-dash line,” Beijing claims almost 90 percent of the disputed waters, which are crisscrossed by vital maritime trade routes, despite ongoing disputes with countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. In recent years, China has expanded its efforts to reclaimed and militarize variety of islands in these waters, providing bases that would be used to limit maritime and aerial traffic if Beijing so desired.


These same two CSGs had previously conducted dual-carrier operations in June of last year, in the Philippine Sea . The last time that dual-carrier operations happened within the South China Sea was in July 2020, when the Reagan and Nimitz CSGs twice operated together in these waters.

Open-source maritime tracking data suggested that the dual-carrier operations came to an end earlier today when the cruiser USS Princeton of CSG 11 departed the South China Sea, likely amid USS Nimitz.

The newest exercise comes amid another spike in Chinese military aviation activity round the northern end of the South China Sea. Last January 31, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense reported that eight Chinese aircraft, including fighter jets, maritime patrol, and surveillance types, had flown into the southwestern corner of its defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ, in the previous two days. Two U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Just Teamed Up within the South China Sea

This uptick in activity has also included reported mock attack runs made by Chinese aircraft on the USS Roosevelt . consistent with British newspaper the Financial Times, individuals conversant in this incident had heard radio chatter of the Chinese pilots browsing the procedures involved in releasing anti-ship cruise missiles.

For its part, the USS Nimitz departed its homeport of Bremerton, Washington, as way back as April 2020. The Nimitz is now finally heading back to Bremerton, after around 10 months stumped — longer than is usually required. Since last summer, the Nimitz CSG has mainly been operating just outside the Persian Gulf but also ventured further afield for the Malabar exercise with the Indian Navy in November, also as contributing to Operation Octave Quartz in December, during which around 700 U.S. troops were removed of Somalia to other locations in Africa. You can read more about the operation during this previous combat zone story. 


Considering how long this carrier has now been stumped , it is sensible that the exercise with its fellow Nimitz class carrier within the South China Sea would be of relatively short duration. More generally, the Navy is grappling with the strain being placed on its carrier fleets amid a surge in demand for them to support U.S. military operations round the world, but at a time when a significant number of the flattops are engaged undergoing maintenance and major overhauls. The USS Roosevelt had already completed one operational cruise in 2020 before leaving its home base of San Diego , California, in December to start its latest scheduled deployment to the Indo-Pacific region. you'll determine more about these so-called “double pump” deployments in this previous article.

Elsewhere, the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) — which incorporates the Wasp class landing helicopter dock USS Makin Island (LHD-8) and therefore the landing platform docks USS San Diego and USS Somerset — swapped places with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group within the North Arabian Sea last week. The amphibious warships arrived on station within the Middle East after having operated off the Horn of Africa. As of February 9, the Makin Island ARG had transited the Strait of Hormuz and is now within the Persian Gulf . 

When USS Nimitz left the center East, leaving that region without an carrier , the Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby explained that the amount of big-deck carriers available to the us at any given time made it a case of balancing requirements from various parts of the planet . “Every decision that we make with military forces — air, ground or naval — and positively , decisions that you simply make with reference to a capital asset, like an carrier and its associated, supporting Strike Group may be a decision driven by a frank assessment of the threats within the area, and also a frank consideration of the capabilities themselves,” Kirby said.

The center East might not be left without a big-deck carrier for long, however, with rumors that the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower might be on its way there, or is a minimum of heading to the broader region.

Meanwhile, within the Indo-Pacific region, other countries, too, still assert their rights to freedom of movement within the South China Sea, including France, which recently sent the Rubis class nuclear-powered submarine Émeraude through the waters.

This spring, British carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth also will venture into the Pacific theater, with plans for the Royal Navy’s flagship to require part in joint exercises with Japanese maritime forces, as a part of the Carrier Strike Group 21 deployment. “Japan and therefore the U.K. have forged an in depth defense and security partnership that's being elevated to new heights this year when the U.K. Carrier Strike Group visits the Indo-Pacific,” U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said. British carrier is widely expected to require part in navigation patrols within the disputed South China Sea, too.

Clearly, the South China Sea may be a particular flashpoint, but tensions between Washington and Beijing have also recently flared up over issues including Taiwan, trade, espionage, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Only weeks into his presidency, President Joe Biden has already stated that China presents the “most critical challenge” to the us . 


While the us flying the flag within the South China Sea and signaling to its allies was a critical policy tool under the previous Trump Administration, the newest dual-carrier maneuvers suggest that these activities are likely to continue, for now a minimum of , under President Biden.