In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, an F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to the “Eagles” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 115 practices a touch-and-go maneuver on the flight deck of the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) on June 10, 2020, in the Philippine Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Samantha Jetzer/U.S. Navy via AP)
WASHINGTON — For the first time in nearly three years, three American aircraft carriers are patrolling the Indo-Pacific waters, a massive show of naval force in a region roiled by spiking tensions between the U.S. and China and a sign that the Navy has bounced back from the worst days of the coronavirus outbreak.
The unusual simultaneous appearance of the three warships, accompanied by Navy cruisers, destroyers, fighter jets and other aircraft, comes as the U.S. escalates criticism of Beijing’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, its moves to impose greater control over Hong Kong and its campaign to militarize human-made islands in the South China Sea.