The US Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) – the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 1 (CSG-1) – returned to its homeport at NAS North Island in San Diego, California, on February 23, after completing a four-month deployment to the Western Pacific region and marking the end of the first operational cruise for the service’s new F/A-18E/F Block III Super Hornets.
Carl Vinson and the rest of CSG-1 ¬– which comprised the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, USS Princeton (CG-59), and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, USS Hopper (DDG-70), USS Kidd (DDG-100), USS Sterett (DDG-104) and USS William P Lawrence (DDG-110) – departed San Diego for this scheduled deployment on October 12, 2023, with the CSG conducting manoeuvres across the US Third and Seventh Fleet areas of responsibility (AOR). Aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing 2 (CVW-2) embarked on Carl Vinson for the four-month deployment.
During the deployment, CSG-1 conducted routine port visits to South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines and Hawaii, while individual vessels from the group also visited Australia, Japan, Guam, Saipan and Palau. In total, CSG-1 helped to further foster and support US relations with eight allied and partner nations by participating in two Multi-Large Deck Events, Annual Exercise (ANNUALEX) 2023 and several bilateral, trilateral and multilateral maritime exercises in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea. “CSG-1 worked alongside Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Singapore to reaffirm their commitment to regional stability and security in the Indo-Pacific,” the US Navy said.
For this deployment, CVW-2 embarked aboard Carl Vinson with F-35C Lightning IIs from Strike Fighter Squadron 97 (VFA-97) ‘Warhawks’; F/A-18E/F Super Hornets from VFA-2 ‘Bounty Hunters’, VFA-113 ‘Stingers’ and VFA-192 ‘Golden Dragons’; EA-18G Growlers from Electronic Attack Squadron 136 (VAQ-136) ‘Gauntlets’; E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes from Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 113 (VAW-113) ‘Black Eagles’; MH-60R Seahawks from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 78 (HSM-78) ‘Blue Hawks’ and MH-60S Seahawks from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 4 (HSC-4) ‘Black Knights’.
While CVW-2 initially deployed with CMV-22B Ospreys from Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron 30 (VRM-30) ‘Titans’ in October, due to the US grounding its entire Osprey fleet following a fatal accident in Japan in December, the carrier onboard delivery (COD) role was absorbed by C-2A Greyhounds from Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30 (VRC-30) ‘Providers’ – at least during the latter months of the deployment.
The completion of this deployment marked a major milestone for the US Navy’s CVW community, as Carl Vinson’s air wing was the first to deploy with the service’s new Block III-standard Super Hornets, adding what the Navy calls a ‘fourth-generation plus’ capability to CVW-2, which is the most advanced CVW in US naval service at present. The Block III Super Hornets embarked aboard Carl Vinson for this deployment were operated by VFA-113.
Commenting on the latest deployment, Capt Timothy Myers – the commander of CVW-2 – said: “As the US Navy’s most advanced air wing, comprised of fourth- and fifth-generation strike fighters, advanced electronic attack, technologically-leading command-and-control, and versatile rotary wing capability, we deliver unprecedented lethality and survivability to CSG-1, ensuring that the strike force can operate and win in contested battlespace both now and well into the future.”
