US, Japan navies stage aircraft carrier meetup in Western Pacific

MELBOURNE, Australia — Two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers joined up with a Japanese helicopter-destroyer for an exercise in the Philippine Sea over the weekend, a gathering meant to show the two allies’ ability to quickly mass forces during crises.

The meeting of some of world’s largest warships involved the Carl Vinson and Japan-based Ronald Reagan, joined by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter-destroyer JS Hyuga. The drill, dubbed a Multi-Large Deck Event in naval lingo, took place in the Philippine Sea between Nov. 4 and Nov. 8.

It marked the second occasion over the span of a few days that a pair of US Navy aircraft carriers conducted exercises with each other. The Gerald R. Ford and Dwight D. Eisenhower staged a joint training the Eastern Mediterranean Sea the previous week.

This week’s event was also the second such meetup to be held in the Indo-Pacific this year, as the carriers Ronald Reagan and Nimitz were joined by Japan’s JS Izumo for a similar occasion in June.

Defense News was part of a small group of international media flown to the ships at a location roughly 500 miles (800 km) east of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon.

U.S. Navy Capt. Matthew Thomas, commander of the Carl Vinson, said the participating ships and aircraft undertook a variety of training missions, including air defense drills, sea surveillance, defensive air counter tactics and coordinated maneuvers.

Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello, commander of the U.S. Navy’s Strike Group One, told reporters aboard the Ronald Reagan that the drill was meant as a “demonstration on how we can rapidly move to a point of crisis and interoperate and cooperate.”

The Carl Vinson had left its homeport of San Diego on Oct. 12, according to video footage captured by a publicly accessible webcam. Navy Times had previously reported that the sea service declined to disclose when the ship left port.

Improving the interoperability between the US Navy and Japanese forces was also a key objective of the exercise, according to the commander of the Ronald Reagan, Capt. Daryle Cardone. “Having been here last year and this year we see each and every time that we interoperate with our partners that the exercises increase in complexity and depth,” he said.

The Navy used a Bell-Boeing CMV-22B Osprey tiltrotor plane and a Northrop-Grumman C-2A Greyhound turboprop transport aircraft to ferry reporters from Kadena Airbase in Okinawa to the carrier and back, respectively, a practice the service calls Carrier Onboard Delivery, or COD.

Officials are in the process of phasing out the Northrop planes for such COD journeys, with the newer Ospreys taking over the missions.

Mike Yeo is the Asia correspondent for Defense News.

澳大利亚墨尔本——上周末，两艘美国海军航空母舰与一艘日本直升机驱逐舰在菲律宾海举行联合演习，此次集结旨在展示这两个盟友在危机期间迅速集结兵力的能力。

此次世界最大军舰之一的会晤包括“卡尔·文森”号航母和驻日“罗纳德·里根”号航母，以及日本海上自卫队直升机驱逐舰“日向”号。此次演习在海军术语中被称为“多艘大型舰艇联合演习”，于11月4日至8日在菲律宾海举行。

这是几天之内美国海军两艘航空母舰第二次进行联合演习。“杰拉尔德·R·福特”号和“德怀特·D·艾森豪威尔”号上周在东地中海进行了联合训练。

本周的活动也是今年在印太地区举行的第二次此类聚会，此前，罗纳德·里根号和尼米兹号航母曾与日本的出云号航母在6月份举行过类似的活动。

《防务新闻》是少数被派往位于菲律宾主岛吕宋岛以东约 500 英里（800 公里）处的舰艇的国际媒体之一。

美国海军“卡尔·文森”号航母舰长马修·托马斯上校表示，参加演习的舰艇和飞机执行了各种训练任务，包括防空演习、海上监视、防御性空中反击战术和协同演习。

美国海军第一打击群指挥官卡洛斯·萨尔迪洛少将告诉“罗纳德·里根”号航母上的记者，此次演习旨在“展示我们如何能够迅速进入危机状态并进行互操作和合作”。

根据一段公开网络摄像头拍摄的视频显示，“卡尔·文森”号航母于10月12日离开其位于圣地亚哥的母港。《海军时报》此前曾报道，海军拒绝透露该舰离港的具体时间。

据“罗纳德·里根”号航母舰长达里尔·卡多内上校称，提高美国海军和日本军队之间的互操作性也是此次演习的关键目标之一。他表示：“去年和今年我们都来过这里，每次与伙伴进行互操作演习，我们都会看到演习的复杂性和深度都在不断增加。”

海军使用贝尔波音 CMV-22B 鱼鹰倾转旋翼机和诺斯罗普格鲁曼 C-2A 灰狗涡轮螺旋桨运输机分别将记者从冲绳嘉手纳空军基地运送到航母并返回，海军将这种做法称为航母上送，或 COD。

官员们正在逐步淘汰诺斯罗普飞机执行此类 COD 任务，由更新型的鱼鹰运输机接替这些任务。

Mike Yeo 是《防务新闻》的亚洲通讯员。