The U.S. nuclear-powered submarine, the Abraham Lincoln, sails through the East Sea with an escort squadron.
The US 7th Fleet released photos and videos of the Lincoln training jointly with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Facebook and Twitter today.
In the video, centered on the 100,000-ton carrier CVN-72 Lincoln, the missile cruiser Mobile Bay is on the left, and the guided missile destroyers Gongo and Inazuma belonging to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force are on the right.
In addition to the sortie scenes of the Lincoln F-35C stealth fighter and the E-2D Hawkeye air controller, the Self-Defense Forces fighters and aircraft flying in formation over the high seas of the East Sea were also unveiled.
Lincoln has a length of 332.85 m, flight deck and hull width of 78.4 m and 40.84 m, respectively, and a height of 62.97 m.
The flight deck covers an area of about 5,000 pyeong.
The carrier is equipped with more than 80 aircraft, including F-35Cs and F/A-18 Super Hornets, and a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, Aegis destroyers, and missile cruisers.
It is the first time in four years and five months since November 2017 that a US carrier group has entered the East Sea.
In November 2017, when North Korea’s nuclear test and intercontinental ballistic missile-class test-firing followed one after another, the United States entered the East Sea with three nuclear carriers, the Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, and Nimitz, and conducted joint exercises with the South Korean navy. There is a bar.
“The operation of the naval forces of both countries is to reaffirm to our allies and partners the United States’ commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” the 7th Fleet said in a statement.
This phrase, ‘a free and open Indo-Pacific,’ is a commonly used expression of the US strategy to contain the public.
However, it is evaluated that this exercise is more of an armed demonstration against North Korea than the Chinese containment.
It is interpreted as a warning given that the possibility of a strategic provocation such as a nuclear test by North Korea was raised on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birthday on the 15th and the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army on the 25th.
Military officials explain that this is a deterrent measure in case North Korea carries out strategic provocations despite repeated concerns from the international community, including South Korea and the US.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said at a press conference today, “This exercise is to strengthen the alliance between the United States and Japan, and is not conducted with a specific country in mind.”
However, Japanese media such as NHK also analyzed that the purpose was to contain the possibility of North Korea’s ICBM launch or nuclear test, which could take place on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of President Kim Il-sung on the 15th.
The Lincoln, which was previously off the coast of the Philippines, scrambled the F-35C aircraft to the West Sea of Korea as a warning to North Korea on the 15th of last month.
It has been confirmed that the South Korean government has decided not to participate in joint training with the Lincoln Carrier Fleet.
Earlier, it was reported that the U.S. suggested a trilateral joint maritime exercise between South Korea, the United States, and Japan, and the South Korean government expressed displeasure.
A military official said, “The exact reason for the absence is unknown, but the South Korean government must have felt burdened by the joint exercise with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.”
The ROK and the US will begin the combined command post training, the main exercise of the combined training, from the 18th to the 28th.
Previously, from the 12th to the 15th, the crisis management staff training, which is a pre-training, was conducted.
The US carrier strike group is expected to stay on the high seas of the East Sea until the 16th.
During this period, in addition to joint exercises with the Japan Self-Defense Force, it is expected that reconnaissance assets will be mobilized to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance operations for signs of North Korea’s missile launch or nuclear test.
