The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group departed Guam on Friday and is now headed toward U.S Central Command to join the Harry. S Truman CSG, the service announced on Friday.
In other developments, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani will meet with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Sunday with the agenda to include strengthening the U.S.- Japan alliance and increasing joint activities and presence in Japan’s southwest islands.
The Carl Vinson CSG had arrived in Guam on Monday for the port visit and left on Friday, according to a Navy release. The strike group consisted of USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) with embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, cruiser USS Princeton (CG-59) and destroyer USS Sterett (DDG-104), according to the release. Destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110) deployed with the CSG when it departed the West Coast in mid-November and was last with it on March 21, when the CSG conducted drills in the Philippine Sea with Japan Maritime Self-Defense (JMSDF) destroyer JS Ikazuchi (DD-107). It is unclear as to whether William P. Lawrence will rejoin the CSG t.
Vinson’s departure from the Western Pacific will be made up by the deployment of the Nimitz CSG comprising of aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) with embarked CVW-17 and destroyers USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54), USS Gridley (DDG-101), USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) and USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123). The deployment is expected to be Nimitz’s last deployment before a planned decommissioning in 2026.
The Nimitz CSG will be supported by the fleet oiler USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205), the first of its class on its first deployment. “USNS John Lewis will bring enhanced logistics capabilities to the fleet and is the first of several ships of this class that will be following in her wake,” said Capt. Micah Murphy, commander Military Sealift Command Pacific, in a release. “This ship is extremely well-led and is manned by some of the finest Mariners on the planet. I have no doubt she will have a very successful deployment and outsized impact on fleet operations.”
Forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73), based in Yokosuka, Japan, is also expected to deploy sometime during the Nimitz’s deployment in the Western Pacific, with its assigned CVW-5 wrapping up training in Guam at the end of March.
The Carl Vinson CSG is not the only one heading to the Red Sea. The French CSG comprising of FS Charles De Gaulle (R91), destroyer FS Forbin (D620), frigates FS Provence (D652) and FS Alsace (D656), fleet oiler FS Jacques Chevallier (A725) and a French Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine is making its way through the Arabian Sea en-route to transiting the Suez Canal on its homeward voyage, following its deployment to the Pacific under the Clemenceau 25 mission.
Currently, France has not expressed any intention to join in the ongoing U.S. strikes against the Houthi, though Charles De Gaulle’s embarked 22 Rafale-M multirole fighters would provide a significant increase in strikes. France also has a frigate deployed in the area as part of the European Union´s Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) Operation Aspides to protect shipping from attacks, though the EU’s mandate for the mission specifically excludes strikes on land. Along with the French frigate, the three-ship force has Hellenic Navy frigate HS Hydra (F-452) and Italian Navy frigate ITS Federico Martinengo (F596) assigned to it.
On Friday, the same day as U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was visiting to the Philippines, the U.S., Philippines and Japan carried out a multilateral maritime cooperative activity (MCA) within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). A 7th Fleet release stated that Friday’s MCA builds on previous MCAs and continuing operations together, which strengthens the interoperability of defense/armed forces doctrines, tactics, techniques and procedures.
The release also stated that destroyer USS Shoup (DDG-85) and a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, Philippine Navy frigate BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) and King Air C-90 aircraft, and JMSDF frigate JS Noshiro (FFM-3) took part in the MCA. “The U.S., along with our allies and partners, upholds the right to freedom of navigation and overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to those freedoms,” concluded the release.
The Associated Press, which was among media embarked on Jose Rizal for the MCA, reported that it took place near the disputed Scarborough Shoal and that a Peoples’ Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigate shadowed the drills.
Following his visit to the Philippines, the Secretary of Defense will head to Iwo Jima. He will attend an 80th anniversary commemoration ceremony of the battle there on Saturday with Japan Defense Minister Gen Nakatani. The two defense chiefs will hold their first in-person meeting at the Japan Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday, according to a Japan Ministry of Defense release.
In a Friday press conference, Nakatani stated that the specific agendas for their meeting were being adjusted, but he and Hegseth would discuss the regional situation, the improvement of the command-and-control frameworks of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and the U.S. military, the improvement of bilateral presence in Japan’s southwest islands, the improvement of readiness through more practical training and exercises and efforts to further strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance, including the promotion of defence equipment and technology cooperation. Nakatani had earlier stated on Tuesday that in light of the establishment of the JSDF Joint Operations Command (JJOC), Japan would like to discuss how to coordinate and strengthen cooperation between the JJOC and its counterpart in the U.S. military.
