Demonstrating its full deployment capabilities, the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier strike group USS Nimitz (CVN-68) carried out in recent days a series of combined exercises in the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal area, as part of its last operational deployment prior to its retirement after more than 50 years of service.
According to information recently disclosed, the USS Nimitz operated alongside units from the Philippine Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in what was defined as a multinational exercise and patrol aimed at strengthening tactical coordination in an area with a high level of friction due to the territorial claims imposed by China. In detail, the activities focused on conducting flight operations with the Carrier Air Wing, as well as escort maneuvers and tactical communications exercises.
According to the U.S. report, the deployment of the USS Nimitz near Scarborough Shoal constitutes the first operation of an American aircraft carrier in that area since the beginning of the year, which, for specialized analysts, reinforces Washington’s message of support for the Philippines amid a full escalation of tensions with China. As is publicly known, the shoal — located within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone — has been the scene of frequent incidents between Philippine and Chinese Coast Guards.
It is worth mentioning that the activities also coincided with the presence of the Japanese destroyer JS Kirisame (DD-104) and the Philippine ships BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PS-15) and BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151). Likewise, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) also observed a C-2 Greyhound aircraft from the Nimitz carrier operating 200 nautical miles south of Scarborough Reef. As is usually done, this type of deployment seeks to improve interoperability among the navies of the region’s allied countries, especially in line with the growing military convergence between the Philippines, Japan and the United States in the face of Chinese pressure in the western Indo-Pacific.
The latest records of the U.S. Navy’s flagship placed it transiting the Strait of Singapore during the last days of October together with the destroyer USS Gridley (DDG-101), after completing a series of operations in the Middle East that lasted for three months. That transit marked its return to the Indo-Pacific, after an extensive deployment in the Middle East that included a recent stopover in Bahrain in mid-August, where the aircraft carrier made a logistics and rest visit before resuming operations on the high seas.
The exercise is inserted into the final stretch of the USS Nimitz’s U.S. Navy deployment, which set sail at the end of March from Naval Base San Diego, California, and operated for several months in the Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of operations, where it temporarily assumed the tasks of the aircraft carrier strike group USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), and which returned to San Diego after its eight-month deployment, before re-entering the Pacific. With almost 57 years of service, the USS Nimitz will be decommissioned in 2026, being progressively replaced by Ford-class aircraft carriers, which already operate as the main strategic projection tool of the U.S. Navy.
During this latest sailing, the aircraft carrier has operated alongside the destroyers USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54), USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108), USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) and USS Gridley (DDG-101). Despite its age, the CVN-68 continues to be a fully operational platform, capable of deploying a carrier air wing composed of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye early warning aircraft, and C-2A Greyhound refueling aircraft.
For the region, the presence of the USS Nimitz Strike Group would be an additional signal of the U.S. Navy’s aim to maintain a presence in the waters of the South China Sea, where China continues expanding its naval activity and military presence. For the American country, the ship maintains its role as a deterrent platform even in the final phase of its operational life, consolidating a retirement in active service with high-visibility deployments in critical areas.
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