The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has departed the Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture for a scheduled annual patrol of the Asi
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has departed the Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture for a scheduled annual patrol of the Asia-Pacific region amid growing concerns over North Korea’s nuclear arms and missile program and simmering territorial disputes in the contested South China Sea.
The Reagan, the U. S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, departed its homeport in Yokosuka on Tuesday after technical problems reportedly delayed its departure a day earlier. The departure comes just two days after North Korea, in its latest provocation, lobbed one of its most advanced ballistic missiles to date into the Sea of Japan.
Although port visits and other operations have not been announced, the Reagan is also expected to conduct what the navy says are “routine patrols” of the disputed South China Sea — a move that is likely to unnerve Beijing.
The U. S. says China has continued to bolster its military capabilities there as it seeks to reinforce effective control of much of the strategic waterway, through which $5 trillion in trade passes each year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims.
With tensions on the Korean Peninsula soaring amid nuclear saber-rattling by North Korea, the Reagan could also see action in the Sea of Japan.
