USS George Washington F/A-18 Super Hornet drills in the South China Sea

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a short social media update early today that F/A-18 Super Hornet jets from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington have conducted fresh drills in the South China Sea. The stated aim was to showcase long-range power-projection capability and to underline Washington’s commitment to the security of its regional allies. After the activity, the ship and its embarked air wing headed back to the U.S. Navy base at Yokosuka in Japan, where it operates as a key asset of the U.S. Seventh Fleet.

A few hours after that post, the U.S. Navy issued the following statement: “The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington transits the South China Sea on November 22, 2025. The USS George Washington is the U.S. Navy’s leading forward-deployed aircraft carrier, a long-standing symbol of the United States’ commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, while operating alongside allies and partners of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, the largest numbered fleet in the U.S. Navy.”

It is worth noting, as we reported on 21 November, that the same carrier had recently joined exercises featuring its F-35C Lightning II fighters as part of efforts to confirm operational readiness. Specifically, the aircraft that now make up the core of the ship’s air wing are assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, whose aviators carried out multiple launches from the flight deck during scheduled training.

The timing of USS George Washington’s deployment for these training events also coincides with rising concern over China’s persistent and expanding naval footprint in the area, which is used in part to observe the movements of nearby nations’ forces. From this perspective, the carrier’s transit through the South China Sea can be seen as an element of a forward-presence approach, designed to maintain a steady U.S. naval posture in the Indo-Pacific in order to preserve the regional balance.

Meanwhile, as these activities were under way, North Korea increased tensions by warning the United States about the carrier’s presence near its territory, following an earlier visit to South Korea. Pyongyang described it as a “brazen” attempt to destabilise the regional situation, arguing that the deployment served only to “fan war hysteria” against the country. The issue is significant: beyond the statements exchanged, the North Korean regime also carried out further short-range ballistic missile tests to signal its own deterrent capability.

Image credits: INDOPACOM – U.S. Navy

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