Ships from several allied nations sailed together through the North Philippine Sea this weekend in a large-scale show of naval force, led by three aircraft carriers from three separate nations.
The United Kingdom’s Carrier Strike Group shared an image on X of the three carriers, plus the U.S. Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS America, sailing side by side in the North Philippine Sea on Aug. 10, with a large aerial force flying overhead. It’s a strong naval presence, with the HMS Prince of Wales, the American Nimitz-class USS George Washington and Japan’s JS Kaga among them.
“Allies and partners sailing as one,” the post said.
According to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, the exercise is meant to train crews on cross-deck operations and anti-submarine warfare. The nine-day operation will wrap up on Aug. 12. More than a dozen ships are taking part in the exercise. Leading the pack are the three carriers as well as the amphibious assault ship, which also has its own fighter jets and aircraft on board. Sailing behind the carriers and the assault ship are vessels from the Norwegian, Spanish and Australian navies. The U.S. Navy also has the Ticonderoga-class cruiser the USS Robert Smalls and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Shoup there.
Above them in the skies, there are more than a dozen aircraft from the ships, including a large number of fighter jets. Some of the fighters are from Carrier Air Wing 5, operating out of the USS George Washington. The American ships present carry both the Navy’s F-35Cs and the Marine Corps’ F-35Bs.
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The HMS Prince of Wales is currently underway in the Royal Navy’s Operation Highmast. As part of multilateral drills, F-35Bs operated by the British forces and U.S. Marine Corps both landed on the JS Kaga this past week. As The Aviationist noted, this was the first time British on the ship, although American ones had done so before. Although the Kaga is designated as a helicopter carrier, it is being modified to allow fighter jets to land on and take off from it.
The USS George Washington, as well as the rest of Carrier Strike Group 5, are operating in the Indo-Pacific region this summer. They earlier took part in the Talisman Sabre exercise with the Australian military. Last month a sailor onboard the carrier went missing, prompted two days of extensive search and rescue efforts before he was declared dead.
Earlier this year, the JS Kaga and another American carrier, the Nimitz-class USS Carl Vinson, conducted a similar multilateral operation in the Philippine Sea alongside ships from the French navy. The U.S. Navy described that coordination, part of the Exercise Pacific Steller 2025, as an effort to “to maintain an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, free of all forms of coercion.”
