One aircraft carrier is lying on its stomach for maintenance and ready to return to the US mainland for overhaul at any time, while the other aircraft carrier is still on its way, and only one aircraft carrier is operating in the East China Sea -- can this also call the three US aircraft carriers to assemble in the Asia-Pacific region?
According to a report by Huanqiu.com, a few days ago, some media released a rather sensational news, claiming that while fighting the Houthis, three nuclear-powered aircraft carriers of the US military are gathering in the Asia-Pacific region, highlighting the "Indo-Pacific strategy" in which the strategic focus of the United States is still in the game of great powers.
But in fact, the so-called "three US aircraft carriers assembled in the Asia-Pacific region" is a false proposition from beginning to end, or it is not rigorous. The three US aircraft carriers mentioned by media reports are the USS Reagan, the USS Carl Vinson, and the USS Roosevelt.
The so-called "three aircraft carriers of the US military"
However, the ship tracking map of the US "Navy Association" shows that the only US aircraft carriers actually deployed in the Asia-Pacific region are the "Reagan" and "Carl Vinson," of which the "Reagan" is in a rather strange state, and it returned to Yokosuka Port only after a brief sortie in November last year, and is still lying on its stomach for repairs.
If we combine the data released by the Pentagon before, the "Reagan's" sailing mileage and the number of carrier-based aircraft takeoffs and landings in the past six months are far lower than the normal level; taking the "Carl Vinson" as a comparison, this aircraft carrier took off and landed a total of 7,700 fixed-wing carrier-based aircraft during the six-month deployment period, while the "Reagan" only carried out 1,838 fixed-wing carrier-based aircraft operations during the same period.
"Reagan" maintained in Yokosuka
From this extremely abnormal data, it is easy to see that there is something seriously wrong with the "Reagan". Although the United States intends to outsource the maintenance of its ships to Japan, the port of Yokosuka can only undertake short-term maintenance work for US aircraft carriers, and the US military has no intention of giving Japan access to the core systems of aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. Therefore, the "Reagan" will soon return to the United States for repairs, and it will not be able to be deployed in the Asia-Pacific region for at least three to four years.
Then there is the Carl Vinson, which is still active in the East China Sea. After the "Reagan" lay down in Yokosuka Port last year, this aircraft carrier came to take over on an emergency basis, and it belonged to the category of "moving wherever it was needed": it would stop at Busan Port to support South Korea, and it would go around the South China Sea if it emboldened the Philippines to provoke......
The Carl Vinson wandering around the East China Sea
It should be noted, however, that since its arrival in Japan in October last year, the "Carl Vinson" has been deployed in the Asia-Pacific region for nearly four months, and according to the deployment cycle of the US aircraft carrier, the sailors on the "Carl Vinson" will need a short period of recuperation, and during this "window period" of deterrence, another aircraft carrier, the "Roosevelt," will rush to take over.
The website of the US "Navy Association" claims that the "Roosevelt" has already departed from the port of San Diego, and it will follow the "Carl Vinson" deployed in the Asia-Pacific region.
Judging from the course of the "Roosevelt," the US Navy is likely to hope to make a time difference, and when this aircraft carrier arrives, the US strike force in the Asia-Pacific region will rise to the level of "dual aircraft carriers," but this state of affairs will not last long, and the previous "Reagan" and "Carl Vinson" twin aircraft carrier sorties will only last less than 10 days before they come to an end.
The "Roosevelt" is still on the way
Therefore, the so-called "gathering of three US aircraft carriers in the Asia-Pacific region" is actually a gimmick hyped by the media; in the past, the US Navy did have two or more aircraft carriers deployed in a certain area, but they often lasted less than a few days and then withdrew.
The most typical example is the global military exercise held by the Pentagon in July last year, which claimed to involve six aircraft carrier strike groups, but in fact, only two aircraft carrier groups actually participated in the exercise, and the remaining four aircraft carriers were all fictionalized by the Pentagon.
Therefore, it is not that the US Navy does not want to deploy more aircraft carriers around China, but it really can't do it, and now it can maintain two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Asia-Pacific region, which is already the result of the efforts of the US military.