Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is now operating in the Philippine Sea after leaving the South China Sea on Monday, USNI News has learned.
Meanwhile, a Russian Navy Pacific Fleet Surface Action Group (SAG) docked at Qingdao, China on Thursday for a port visit while Japan on Wednesday tracked People’s Liberation Army Navy ships sailing through the Miyako Strait to enter the Philippine Sea.
Prior images dated Sunday showed Abraham Lincoln operating in the South China Sea, but on Monday images locations had changed to the Philippine Sea. The carrier is approaching the five-month mark of its deployment, having set out from Naval Station North Island on July 11 and received orders on Aug. 2 to deploy to the Middle East. On Aug. 9, Abraham Lincoln carried out dual carrier drills in the Philippine Sea with Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (550) and, following that, was told to accelerate its voyage to the Central Command area of operations. The carrier arrived there on Aug. 21.
During its operations in Central Command, the “Black Knights” of Marine Fighter Squadron (VMFA) 314, assigned to Abraham Lincoln’s embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9, conducted the first F-35C combat air strikes for the platform on Nov. 9 and 10, stated a Navy release,
“The F-35C demonstrated its warfighting advantage by transiting contested airspace and striking targets in the heart of Houthi territory over multiple days,” stated Lt. Col. Jeffrey “Wiki” Davis, commanding officer of VMFA-314 in the release, “My Marines are honored to be first to fight with the F-35C.”
The release stated that VMFA-314 conducted multiple strikes on Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen. These facilities housed conventional weapons, including anti-ship missiles, according to the release.
“The offensive and defensive capabilities of the F-35C absolutely enhance our air wing’s striking arm,” said Capt. Gerald “Dutch” Tritz, commander, CVW 9 in the release. “The now battle-tested Air Wing of the Future has proven itself a game changer across all carrier air wing missions.”
Abraham Lincoln also conducted a second dual carrier drill with Cavour on Oct. 18 and left Central Command in mid-November before dropping into Port Klang, Malaysia from Nov. 23-27 for a liberty call. Its escort USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121) did the same in Singapore while USS Spruance (DDG-111) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) stopped in Thailand. The group reconvened in the Malacca Strait and Singapore Strait to head into the South China Sea.
On Thursday, the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet SAG comprised of corvettes RFS Gromkiy (335), RFS Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov (339) and RFS Rezkiy (343) as well as fleet oiler Pechenga docked in Qingdao, China for a port visit that will last until Monday, according to a Russian Ministry of Defence release. The stop will include protocol visits by the command group of the SAG to PLAN officers at the naval base there along with mutual ship visits and sailor interaction events between the two navies.
“The visit of the detachment of warships of the Russian Navy to the People’s Republic of China will serve as another practical step in strengthening cooperation between the navies of the two countries,” read the release.
The SAG set out from Vladivostok on Oct. 5 for an Asia Pacific deployment. The group conducted drills with the Myanmar Navy in late October and the Indonesian Navy in early November and conducted port visits to Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand. A Tuesday release by Russia’s Pacific Fleet stated that the SAG, while in the South China Sea, conducted anti-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) drills, where the ships’ air defense crews tracked aerial targets and neutralized an attack when the UAVs entered the engagement zone. The release stated that the targets for the air defense systems were simulated electronically and no live fire was carried out. The Russian Embassy to China in a social media post stated Russian and Chinese vessels practiced repelling an attack by UAVs in the South China Sea.
Japan’s Joint Staff Office (JSO) issued a release stating that at 8 a.m. Wednesday, PLAN destroyer CNS Nanjing (155) and frigate CNS Huanggang (577) were sighted heading south in an area 62 miles northeast of Miyako Island and subsequently sailed south in the waters between Miyako Island and Okinawa to enter the Philippine Sea.
The release also said, PLAN destroyer CNS Xiamen (154) was sighted at 11 a.m. on the same day sailing southeast 74 miles northeast of Miyako Island and subsequently sailed southeast in between Miyako Island and Okinawa to enter the Philippine Sea. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) minesweeper JS Shishijima (MSC-691) and a JMSDF P-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of Fleet Air Wing 5 based at Naha Air Base, Okinawa, carried out surveillance on the PLAN ships, according to the release.
Miyako Strait, is a 155 mile-wide passageway between Okinawa and Miyako Island consisting mostly of international waters and airspace. PLAN ships routinely use the Miyako Strait to transit between the East China Sea and Philippine Sea. Japan routinely has JMSDF ships and aircraft monitoring their movements through the strait.
