US piles on South China Sea pressure with dual carrier strike exercises
- USS Carl Vinson and landing helicopter dock ship USS Essex have arrived in the contentious waterway where they are expected to carry out joint drills
- The deployment comes hard on the heels of simultaneous exercises for PLA Navy aircraft carriers Shandong and Liaoning in the region
The United States has sent an aircraft carrier strike group and a landing helicopter dock group to the South China Sea where the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong exercised two weeks ago, adding new tension to the hotspot.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and the Wasp-class USS Essex, as well as their escort vessels, entered the southern waters of the South China Sea on Tuesday evening, according to Beijing-based think tank the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, which monitors open-source ship tracking information.
The US Navy has yet to announce its plans but the two major attack groups are expected to join forces and probably operate together.
Two US dual carrier strike group (CSG) exercises took place in the South China Sea in July 2020 and February 2021, while in October last year the Carl Vinson CSG was on a joint exercise with the Japanese helicopter carrier JS Kaga in the region.
The latest deployment comes just a few weeks after the PLA Navy held simultaneous drills for its two aircraft carriers, one in the South China Sea. It is also only three weeks ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Lunar New Year, when China will be hoping to avoid a build-up of military tensions in its backyard.
According the US Navy, the Carl Vinson strike group last week was in the Celebes Sea – between the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia – with nine plane squadrons from Carrier Air Wing 2 on board, including one stealth fighter F-35C and its team.
