[ Business Insider ] First US Navy carrier strike group to deploy with F-35C stealth fighters sails into the South China Sea
Photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Isaiah Williams
The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group sailed into the South China Sea this week carrying stealth fighters.
The Carl Vinson is the first US Navy aircraft carrier to deploy with F-35Cs.
Chinese state-affiliated media criticized the carrier’s arrival, calling it a “provocative deployment.”
A deployed US Navy aircraft carrier sailed into the South China Sea this week carrying F-35 stealth fighters in a first for the service.
The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group departed San Diego early last month, making history at it sailed into the Pacific.
At that time, the Nimitz-class carrier USS Carl Vinson became the first US Navy aircraft carrier to deploy with an integrated air wing consisting of both fourth-generation F/A-18 Super Hornets and fifth-generation F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters.
The strike group is now in the South China Sea and conducting maritime security operations, the US Navy said in a press statement Tuesday.