Elements of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet are sailing through the Philippine Sea with French and Japanese vessels in a joint exercise meant to train crews and show just how much force they can project at sea. And some newly released photos capture just how much force that is.
Images shared on the U.S. military’s Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) on Saturday, Feb. 15 show the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and planes from Carrier Air Wing 2 drilling with French and Japanese forces in and above the vast blue waters of the Philippine Sea.
The three flattops from the different navies lead several warships, while fighter jets and surveillance planes cruise overhead. Behind the USS Carl Vinson there’s the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton and a pair of Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the USS Sterett and USS William P. Lawrence. Alongside it are the Japanese helicopter carrier JS Kaga — recently modified to carry light aircraft — and the destroyer JS Akizuki. The French contingent includes the carrier the FS Charles De Gaulle and its support frigates and destroyers.
In the skies ahead and above them, from left to right, is a F/A-18F Super Hornet with Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 2, a F-35C Lightning II assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 97, an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye from Airborne Command Control Squadron (VAW 113) and two French Navy Rafale Marine (F4) fighter jets. Those are only a small number of the amount of and types of aircraft onboard the combined naval flotilla. Carrier Air Wing 2 carries nine squadrons flying F/A-18E/Fs, F-35Cs and EA-18G Growlers, as well as CMV-22 Osprey and MH-60R/S Seahawks.
The display is part of Exercise Pacific Steller 2025, a multi-large deck event that started on Feb. 8 and runs through Feb. 18. The last similar exercise was held in August 2024, with the USS Abraham Lincoln drilling with the Italian navy before its carrier strike group was ordered to the Middle East.
“Coordinated operations between USS Carl Vinson, FS Charles De Gaulle, and JS Kaga strengthen our alliances and deter our adversaries,” Rear Adm. Michael Wosje, the head of Carrier Strike Group 1, said in a statement just before the launch of Pacific Steller 2025. “Together, we seek to maintain an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, free of all forms of coercion, and we’re excited to work alongside our allies and partners who share that vision.”
Exercises with regional partners isn’t new for the U.S. military, although the display of naval force in Pacific Steller 2025 comes as the United States continues to build up its Pacific presence against China. Beijing was not mentioned in the Navy’s statement ahead of the exercise, but the U.S. has been steadily rebuilding and expanding its bases in East Asia and the Pacific. Improvements have included reclaiming airfields and adding greater anti-missile and anti-ship capabilities at U.S. installations.
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