US Aircraft Carrier Deployed to South China Sea

The USS Carl Vinson, a US Navy Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is in the South China Sea for "routine operations."

- MICHAEL PUNONGBAYAN

According to the US Pacific Command, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group ONE "is underway conducting routine operations in the US 7th Fleet area of operations."

An official photo posted on the US Pacific Fleet's website showed how sailors observed an F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the "Stingers" of Strike Fighter Squadron 113, take off from the flight deck of the carrier on Wednesday.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has yet to respond to a request for more information about the US Navy vessel's presence in the SCS, reported days after China's biggest coast guard vessel, known as its monster ship, was spotted within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

Last year, the Philippine Navy conducted several multilateral maritime cooperative activities with the US and other allied nations in the West Philippine Sea.