By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE UNITED STATES Carrier Strike Group One led by USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) aircraft carrier has left Singapore for the South China Sea where tensions and standoffs have been reported between the Chinese and Philippine navies around Spratly Islands, according to a navy source.
The Group flagship USS Carl Vinson is currently sailing in the South China Sea, accompanied by cruiser USS Princeton (CG-59) and destroyers USS Kidd (DDG-100) and USS Sterett (DDG-104) in sustained effort to promote and maintain free of navigation in the vulnerable maritime region.
Deployed aboard USS Carl Vinson are squadrons of Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II jet fighters, among other combat aircraft.
The Thai air force has planned to procure a dozen F-35A Lightning II jets beginning with the first batch of a couple of the multirole stealth fighters in the next decade.
Nevertheless, former air force chief Alongkorn Wannarot has earlier commented that the chance of the Thai air force eventually procuring the F-35A would only be 50-50 as long as the US Congress and the superpowers’ engagement as well as the volatile geopolitical environment in the Indo-Pacific region in general and the Southeast Asian region in particular are concerned.
The US Carrier Strike Group One has already spent a one-week docking in Singapore after its last visit to the island republic six years earlier.
The period of time during which USS Carl Vinson is currently making its presence felt in the South China Sea is not known to the public but is largely expected to last beyond New Year season before the Carrier Strike Group One flagship returns to its home port in San Diego, according to the navy source.
Sailing in and out of the South China Sea since earlier this year are USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) aircraft carriers besides those of China and Russia.
Maritime provocations and standoffs have intermittently occurred between China and the Philippines amidst mutually contradictory claims of territorial integrity over Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal atolls in Spratly Islands, prompting the US Carrier Strike Group One to stay around, albeit in deterrent fashion.
Highlighting a tense standoff earlier this month was the event in which Chinese naval ships fired water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard vessels near Scarborough Shoal.
Both Singapore and the Philippines are known as treaty allies of the US in the Indo-Pacific region.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), left, and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) transit the Philippine Sea on Jan. 22, 2022. Photo: US Navy and published by US Naval Institute
Front Page: USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and their carrier strike groups (CSGs) steam in formation on July 6, 2020. Photo: US Navy and published by US Naval Institute
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