▲ The US Navy's 7th Fleet nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (100,000-ton class) enters the Busan Naval Operations Base in Nam-gu, Busan, in November of last year for military supplies and crew rest.
Amid the prolonged war with Iran under the U.S. Donald Trump administration, the USS Abraham Lincoln is reportedly set to be replaced by the USS George Washington, signaling potential changes to the U.S. defense posture keeping China in check.
The USS Washington, the sixth Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the U.S. military, has its home port at the Yokosuka base in Japan rather than the U.S. mainland, making it the sole permanently deployed U.S. carrier in the Indo-Pacific region, or more narrowly, East Asia.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 13th (local time), citing U.S. officials, that in accordance with scheduled carrier rotation plans, the USS Washington is preparing to head to the Middle East to replace the USS Lincoln, which has been carrying out operations in the war with Iran.
However, no official announcement has been made yet by the Trump administration or the U.S. military regarding the deployment of the USS Washington to the Middle East, nor have there been reports or announcements regarding whether another carrier will replace the vacancy left by the USS Washington.
The USS Washington was permanently forward-deployed to Japan in 2008.
Since 2015, it left Japan for operations and extensive maintenance.
For about 10 years afterward, another U.S. carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, filled this position, and the USS Washington was redeployed to Japan in 2024.
When President Trump visited Japan right before coming to Korea in October of last year to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, the carrier he boarded alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was the USS Washington.
The deployment of the USS Washington to the Middle East appears to be carried out to urgently fill the operational void caused by the ongoing war with Iran.
However, the possibility remains that another carrier could be deployed to replace the USS Washington in the Indo-Pacific region.
This is because China's military threats in the region have not diminished, and the United States also considers the region its highest-priority theater.
In its report regarding the rotation of the USS Washington and the USS Lincoln, U.S. Navy-focused media outlet USNI News stated, "In California, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group are preparing for deployment."
The USS Roosevelt is the fourth Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the U.S. military.
Earlier in March, a former high-ranking U.S. official expressed concern during a meeting with foreign correspondents from Asian nations, including South Korea, stating, "Some Marines and certain military assets painstakingly deployed to Korea have departed," and adding, "Deterrence has shifted at a time when China is launching an unprecedented number of sorties around Taiwan."
The "some Marines" mentioned by this former official referred to 2,500 troops from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) stationed in Okinawa, Japan, who were deployed to the Middle East along with the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, while the "certain military assets painstakingly deployed to Korea" referred to the redeployment of a portion of the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system stationed in Seongju-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, to the Middle East.
The former official also criticized the deployment of Indo-Pacific U.S. military assets to the Middle East, saying, "It is surprising. Even during the most critical periods, there has never been a deterrence vacuum like this."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.