A U.S. Navy carrier strike group has resumed high-tempo flight operations in the disputed South China Sea, with aircraft from USS George Washington conducting launches and recoveries as regional tensions remain acute.
The U.S. Navy released images showing Capt Tim Waits, commanding officer of USS George Washington, landing a VFA-102 F/A-18F Super Hornet on the carrier’s deck while the ship operated in contested waters.
The carrier is the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed flagship in the Indo-Pacific and one of Washington’s most visible tools for signalling presence in the face of China’s expansive maritime claims.
The U.S. Navy described the George Washington as “a long-standing symbol of the United States’ commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, while operating alongside allies and partners across the U.S. Navy’s largest numbered fleet.”
The deployment comes as competing claims continue to collide across the South China Sea. China asserts sweeping sovereignty over most of the region, while Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all maintain their own claims to islands and surrounding waters. Beijing’s land-reclamation, militarised outposts and persistent naval patrols have sharpened friction with neighbours. Washington maintains that it takes no position on sovereignty but regularly conducts what it calls freedom of navigation operations near disputed features.
USS George Washington, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carrier displacing more than 100,000 tonnes, typically embarks around 90 aircraft and a combined ship’s company and air wing exceeding 6,000 personnel. Powered by two A4W nuclear reactors driving four shafts at over 30 knots.
At present this forward deployment stance is an important deterrent.. but at some points between 2027 and 2035 it is very likely China will decide to go kinetic against Taiwan ( probably closer to 2035) and when it does that it’s going to make a judgment on if it thinks the US will get involved and if it decides it’s inevitable the US will be involved any USN forces in the China seas that are not both profoundly lucky and very skilled at running like the wind will be dead.. this will be both a tragedy and a massive issue for the US.. because that balance of power between the PLAN and USN in 2035 is going to be all on the side of the PLAN and if the PLAN can day one kill a couple of carrier battle groups the USN would be hard pressed to even contest sea control around the second island chain.. at some point if the is still seen as being 100% ready to defend Taiwan it’s going to be to risky to essentially leave a couple of carrier battle groups to die for nothing.
What a fantasy.
The PLAN has zero blue water naval experience. During the first UK CSG in 2021, the RN didn’t even need the sound signatures of Chinese subs, because they are so damn loud. It’s like Russia in the early 1970’s.
USN SSN’s will sterilize the SCS in 3 weeks.
Jonathan has already pretty comprehensively rubbished your statements, so I don’t have much to add in that department.
However, I would like to point out that CSG21 was four years ago. 2035 is a decade in the future. A lot can change in 15 years – heck, as Jonathan has shown, a lot has already changed in four years. China has the money, industry, espionage and capacity to rapidly iterate and improve. Take a look at their aviation industry – in about 15 years, the PLAAF has gone from a technological laggard to producing arguably the most capable set of air-to-air missiles globally, a pair of advanced stealth fighters, the largest single-service AEW fleet globally, six different ongoing CCA programmes, the only operational two-seat stealth fighter, the only stealth-fighter built purposefully to integrate with CCAs, multiple unmanned stealth bombers under testing, combat-proven air dominance architecture integrated into its third-rank fighter (that dominated European-built systems), and finally three separate next-generation stealth fighter prototypes, at least one of which is already in its second iteration.
Given the sluggish nature of the US and its Allies in rearming, the war in the Pacific is slipping away, and may already be lost in the SCS.
Zero blue water experience..let’s unpack your grossly inaccurate statement with actual facts shall we..the PLAN send more ships further then the RN.. infact since 2008 the PLAN has sent well over 150 major ship deployments halfway across the globe to Africa.. it sends a minimum of 9 major ships a year to Africa in three deployments and has deployed task groups in 3 of the major occeans at one time..
Every 4 months the PLAN sends a 3 ship task group on a 16,000km round trip to the gulf of Aden where it stays for 4 months and around the coast of Africa.. at anyone time it will have 2 task groups in the India ocean.. the task group in the African, Middle East OA and a task group coming or going from that OA doing East Indian Ocean visits.. it has had 4 deployments of amphibious groups to Africa in that time.. it has deployed surface groups to South Africa and even has surface groups travel from China through the Indian Ocean around Africa the long way up through the Atlantic though the channel to Russia.. it deployed a carrier battle group halfway across the pacific ( that’s a 10,000km round trip) it every year does deployment to the South Pacific that’s another 15,000 km round trip set of deployments..
As for the SSNs you need to do a bit of reading mate because your living in yesterday not today..the US naval college papers are a good start because they actually respect their enemy.. the SSNs you are talking about are the type 093, built in 2006 before China had western level precision engineering.. when it had anything other that first generation single equipment rubbber rafting, when it needed to use 2 nuclear reactors due to lack of ability to create a marine sized reactor with more than 75mw output.. before it had tiles.. these SSNs are dog shit.. they sat between an early victor 3 and late victor 3.. infact in about 2009 the CIA published a report that suggested China was going to abandon SSN production..then Xi came to power and things changed.. in 2015 China launched a new class the 093A.. these are not really a class per say as each boat is an iteration of experimental stolen tec..these first of theses was rated at between a late victor 3 and a flight 1 Akula.. these first last of this class of 4 had Russian isolation, Russian tiles, a version of the UKs pump jet and towed array.. it was rated between a fight 1 – flight 2 LA.. suddenly in the late 2010s China started serial production of a new sub the type 93B.. essentially using all the tec it had stolen or purchased as well as modern western standard of CNC manufacturing.. it has between 2022 and 2025 launched 6-8 of these.. with a total production run of 12 though to be finished within. Couple of years. they are considered to be up to the standard of between a flight 2 or 3 LA..they are not considered a peer because they still use a 2 reactor design and don’t have a full deck raft.. but the reason everyone who knows thinks the production will end at 12 in a couple of years as China has started building the type 95.. now a few things are known.. 1) it’s a single reactor SSN with a 150mw power output.. because the Russians gave the Chinese the reactor 1) it’s a larger diameter pressure hull than the 093B and will have a full deck raft.. we already know China now has contemporary peer CNC, peer sound isolation for the deck raft and peer tiles as well as pump key propulsion.. so almost all assessments are this is a peer SSN with other SSNs now in production.. the other simple fact is China will have launched 12 SSNs in about 5 years and it’s only upped it’s capabilities since.. with 16 to 28 SSN bays and 8 SSBN/SSN bays.. so China has likely reached the capability to lay down up to 20 something SSNs in one batch.. that is all intel you can read from good sources in the US and Indian naval communities… but you will not believe me or go out and look for the academic papers and open source intel.. so just live in bliss mate..you stick with the USN in 2035 when it’s out numbered 2-1 with far older ships and fighting 10,000 miles from home being able to destroy the PLAN in a week..in 1914 the British army was going to be home for Christmas..
China’s massive investment in to the Bohai submarine factory gives a real indication of Chinese intent. The Observer Research Foundation, did a really good piece on them in 2024. Where they mapped the early development of building submarines right up to todays submarine factory. Where the new final assembly hall can build 12 subs in parallel. Why does China believe it needs a massive build hall?
What is really scary is they then when on and build a separate SSBN hall with 8 bays for a total of 24 ( 12 new SSN, 8 new SSBN and the 4 original).. and then the very latests set of photos and analyses I have seen is that they have built a further shed for a further ? 12 SSN bays…it’s not just the build halls.. they are connected to a large module assembly shed ( 8 modules capacity) and a small module shed ( 8 modules) as well as a two chamber fuelling facility and a separate covered tilling and painting bay.. that is why they are now saying capacity is up to 8+ nuclear boat launches a year.. 36 bays with a 4 year build time per boat..
What would 8 boats a year mean.. well 2 would be SSBNs.. but that is 6 SSNs a year.. they will have 18 SSNs for around 2028.. ( 93-93A-93B) adding 2 T095s for 29/30 then serial production of the 95 at 6 a year.. assuming They will retire all the 93 types as they build up the 95s they still have a completely unsustainable building programme.. no nation can keep building 6 SSNs a year for very long before they can no longer absorb the production..if you consider even at the hight of the Reagan doctrine the US only produced 3.5 LAs a year… it means china has spent a vast fortune on a facility that will essentially overwhelm its ability to take the product within 15 years.
The USN, may have a surprise deterrent up its sleeve, Global Prompt Strike(GPS), it has converted the Zumwalt class DDGs specially for this role, and most likely the future DDG(X).
If China does go Kinetic in the SCS, there is no way the US can go it alone. It will take the full might of the US, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan itself to contain the Chinese.
Scary stuff!!!