A U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been spotted leaving the South China Sea for the wider Pacific Ocean, where it will participate in a large, multinational naval drill.
Meanwhile, the Chinese military did not deploy any of its aircraft carriers, two of them remaining pierside at bases, while another underwent maintenance inside a dry dock.
Newsweek‘s weekly update maps aircraft carrier movements in the Indo-Pacific region. As of February 7, the locations of 12 vessels were publicly available via military disclosures, as well as open-source imagery captured by satellites or ship-spotters. The U.S. military has the world’s largest “flattop” fleet with 11 in service. China ranks second with three.
U.S. Navy
USS Carl Vinson: Sibutu Passage
The Carl Vinson, which was previously operating in the South China Sea, transited the Sibutu Passage southward in the southwestern waters of the Philippines on Thursday, according to satellite imagery. The channel connects the Sulu Sea with the Sulawesi Sea.
🇺🇸Carrier Strike Group 1🇺🇸
Spotted on Landsat 8-9 on 6 Feb 2025CVN-70 along with USS Sterett (DDG-104), USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110) & USS Princeton (CG-59) transiting the 🇵🇭Sibutu Passage southbound pic.twitter.com/dACwtsIIiu
— MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) February 6, 2025
The Carl Vinson carrier strike group will participate in an exercise, code-named Pacific Steller 2025, in the Philippine Sea, a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine Archipelago, beginning on Saturday, the U.S. Navy announced on Thursday.
A French carrier strike group led by FS Charles De Gaulle, as well as JS Kaga (a Japanese helicopter destroyer undergoing conversion into an aircraft carrier), will also take part in the exercise to advance coordination and cooperation between the three nations’ navies.
USS George Washington: Yokosuka, Japan
The George Washington remained pierside at Yokosuka naval base, its home port in the Greater Tokyo Area, as of Friday, according to a local government website that tracks port visits by American nuclear-powered warships.
USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Abraham Lincoln: San Diego, California
The Theodore Roosevelt and the Abraham Lincoln remained at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California, as of Thursday, according to a website that records the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet’s deployment history.
USS Nimitz: Eastern Pacific Ocean
The U.S. Navy said the Nimitz conducted “routine training operations” on Wednesday in the Third Fleet’s area of operations, which covers the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
![U.S. Aircraft Carrier USS Nimitz](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2583339/us-aircraft-carrier-uss-nimitz.jpg?w=1200&f=51ca59df9ac846a6d75c9b33c5fb54f7)
An F/A-18F fighter jet launches from the flight deck of the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on February 5, 2025.
Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Japeth Carter/U.S. Navy
USS Ronald Reagan: Bremerton, Washington
Photos published by the U.S. Navy showed the Ronald Reagan was pierside at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, on Thursday.
![U.S. Aircraft Carrier USS Ronald Reagan](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2583342/us-aircraft-carrier-uss-ronald-reagan.jpg?w=1200&f=72b678f32da19f542a2a76f8f2ca0625)
The United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan is moored in-port Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, on February 6, 2025.
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David C. Fines/U.S. Navy
People’s Liberation Army Navy
CNS Liaoning: Qingdao, Shandong
The Liaoning, which is China’s first operational aircraft carrier, was spotted at its home port in Qingdao in China’s eastern Shandong province on Tuesday, according to satellite imagery.
![Chinese Carrier Liaoning at Qingdao Home Port](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2583396/chinese-carrier-liaoning-qingdao-home-port.jpg?w=1200&f=fed7dcb20efbd0abbc76d3e3c2f83b2e)
This photograph captured on February 4, 2025, by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites shows the Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning pierside at its home port in Qingdao in China’s eastern Shandong province.
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
CNS Shandong: Sanya, Hainan
The second operational Chinese aircraft carrier, the Shandong, was spotted at its home port in Sanya in China’s southern Hainan province on Wednesday, satellite imagery showed.
![Chinese Carrier Shandong at Sanya Home Port](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2583393/chinese-carrier-shandong-sanya-home-port.jpg?w=1200&f=293ef873ec42c6fa220ce6e96f26bbae)
This photograph captured on February 5, 2025, by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites shows the Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Shandong pierside at its home port in Sanya in China’s southern Hainan province.
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
CNS Fujian: Shanghai
The Fujian, China’s most advanced but yet-to-be-commissioned aircraft carrier, was inside a dry dock at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard in eastern China on Thursday, a satellite photograph showed.
![Chinese Carrier Fujian In Shanghai Dry Dock](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2583390/chinese-carrier-fujian-shanghai-dry-dock.jpg?w=1200&f=4898fbad45f28f3d75ec3007c1958ff3)
This photograph captured on February 6, 2025, by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites shows the Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Fujian inside a dry dock at the Jiangnan Shipyard in China’s eastern port city of Shanghai.
Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
JS Kaga: Philippine Sea
According to open-source data captured by the ship-tracking site MarineTraffic, the Kaga left Kure in Japan’s Hiroshima Prefecture on Thursday, heading toward the Philippine Sea.
JS Izumo: Yokohama, Japan
Japanese media said the Izumo, which is the Kaga‘s sister ship, will remain at a shipyard in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, for conversion into an aircraft carrier until 2027.
French Navy
FS Charles de Gaulle: Java Sea
The Charles de Gaulle departed from the Indonesian island of Lombok on Monday after a port visit. It was reportedly heading toward Singapore via the Java Sea.