The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson sailed into the South China Sea from the Western Pacific on Sept. 5, and the difference between the carrier and its predecessors is that for the first time it carries a number of F-35C stealth carrier-based fighters. This allows the U.S. traditional “Nimitz” class aircraft carriers to achieve an upgrade in combat power.
According to photos released by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Carl Vinson flew day and night missions during its arrival in the waters of the South China Sea. The U.S. military did not disclose details of the USS Carl Vinson’s operations in the South China Sea, saying that it is now on a routine deployment in the 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance cooperation with allies and partners.
“On the day the USS Carl Vinson arrived in the South China Sea, the PLA sent a large number of military aircraft to the airspace southwest of Taiwan Island, including four H-6K bombers, one Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, ten J-16 fighters and four Su-30 fighters,” according to a recent Global Times report.
Furthermore, the U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold “illegally intruded into” the waters adjacent to China’s Meiji Reef (Mischief Reef) in the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) on Sept. 8 without the approval of the Chinese government, according to the Global Times.
The spokesman for the PLA’s southern war zone, Air Force Senior Colonel Tian Junli, said the same day that the PLA’s southern theater organized naval and air forces to track and monitor the ship and warn it off.