A U. S. carrier strike group showed off its ability to rapidly launch fighters in the South China Sea.
A little more than a week after a massive People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) drill in the South China Sea, the U. S. Navy made its presence known.
The operation came a day after the U. S. Department of Defense publicized China’s deployment of electronic warfare equipment to Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly group.
Since last year, the U. S. Navy has made its presence clear in the South China Sea and increased the operational tempo on its freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) within 12 nautical miles of various features held by China and other claimant states in the waterway.
Presence operations in the South China Sea involving U. S. carrier groups are not entirely new.
