The United States Navy recently confirmed that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) conducted maneuvers in the waters of the South China Sea, as part of a new deployment by the Seventh Fleet in the Indo-Pacific. According to the information released, the Nimitz-led strike group carried out naval warfare exercises in an area of growing strategic tension, while the Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong operate in the Western Pacific.
The United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) stated that ongoing operations include maritime interdiction missions, extended presence patrols, flight training, and combat readiness exercises involving F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets, MH-60 Seahawk helicopters, and E-2C Hawkeye early warning aircraft. The primary goal, according to the U.S. Navy, is to ensure freedom of navigation and reinforce a deterrent posture in response to China’s expanding naval capabilities in the region.
The exercise comes just days after China deployed two aircraft carriers beyond the first island chain in the Pacific for the first time. As reported by Zona Militar on June 11, the Shandong (CV-17) and the Liaoning (CV-16) conducted joint navigation and training operations east of Taiwan and in the Western Pacific, signaling the growing power projection of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
The USS Nimitz deployment in the South China Sea is part of Washington’s broader regional strategy, which for over a decade has maintained a policy of permanent naval presence in key Indo-Pacific areas. Carrier strike groups, such as those previously led by the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Carl Vinson, aim to counter Beijing’s development of anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities.
The exercise also includes training with surface escorts, such as Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Aegis-equipped cruisers, which form part of the USS Nimitz Strike Group 11. This type of deployment not only enables sustained operations far from U.S. continental territory but also ensures interoperability with allied forces in the region, including Japan, the Philippines, and Australia.
China’s steady naval expansion in recent years—highlighted by the launch of its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian (CV-18)—has accelerated the pace of military exercises in the Indo-Pacific. This is compounded by increasing activity from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force near Taiwan and the consolidation of artificial military bases in the Spratly Islands—actions that have drawn criticism from several Southeast Asian countries.
The convergence of two Chinese carriers operating beyond the traditional maritime threshold, alongside the presence of the USS Nimitz and its combat group in disputed waters, raises alert levels among regional naval powers. While no direct incidents between units of either navy have been reported, the simultaneous movements underscore the increasingly strategic and competitive nature of dynamics in the South China Sea.
U.S. authorities insist that the deployment adheres to international navigation laws and that the deterrent presence will continue as a means to prevent unilateral changes to the regional status quo. Meanwhile, Beijing considers these moves as provocations that infringe on its territorial sovereignty.
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