U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Maxwell Orlosky
The US Navy currently has no aircraft carriers deployed in the Pacific as ongoing conflicts in the Middle East demand the military's attention.
The carrier gap in US naval power in what the Pentagon has said is a priority region raises some potential concerns about whether the force posture matches stated priorities, especially as China throws its weight around, alarming US allies and partners.
The Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group arrived in the Middle East last week, joining the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which has been in the area since the beginning of the month.
Both of the carrier strike groups came from the Pacific, and the Pentagon has said that both will remain in Middle East for an undisclosed amount of time. Their deployments follow two others by East Coast-based carriers to the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean in response to the ongoing crises.
The latest deployment marks the first time two US carrier strike groups have operated together in the Middle East since 2020. It is also a strong signal of US support for Israel and is intended as a deterrence against Iran and its proxies. And it came at a perilous time as the region braces for further violence and unrest.
US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Max Biesecker
But the move has left the Pacific without a deployed aircraft carrier, a powerful combat platform and a visible symbol of American naval power that reflects US interests and security commitments in priority regions.
US aircraft carriers and the other warships in their strike groups bring a tremendous amount of firepower to any situation, making them formidable power projection assets that represent the military's reach and readiness.
All of the US West Coast-based carriers are in port or currently unavailable. The USS Ronald Reagan, which was home-ported in Japan for nine years as the Navy's only forward-deployed carrier, was recently redeployed back to the States. And the replacement, the USS George Washington, remains in San Diego for the time being.
Asked about how long the US military expects not to have an aircraft carrier in the region and whether the absence of carriers is concerning, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that the Indo-Pacific was still the US' primary focus, a statement consistent with Pentagon rhetoric consistently identifying China as a "pacing challenge" for the military.
US Navy photo illustration by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Aaron Haro Gonzalez
"You know, as we look at global force management and as we look at requirements around the world in support of our national security interests, we're always taking great care to make sure that we can cover those commitments to include, in our priority theater, which is the Indo-Pacific region," Ryder told reporters on Tuesday.
"So we have a significant amount of capability there to include a large naval presence," he added.
Earlier this month, Ryder took a similar question about whether the Pentagon could posture forces in both the Pacific and Middle East at the same time.
He said that "the thing about the US military, as you're seeing this week, is that we have the ability to surge forces and capabilities to where we need them, when we need them."
"The Indo-Pacific Command continues to be our priority theater, and that is indicative of the number of forces that we have that are located within the region," Ryder said.
Bryan Clark, a former naval officer and current defense expert at the Hudson Institute, told Business Insider "the inability of the US to maintain more than one carrier in the Pacific, short of a wartime surge, will require the Navy to rely more on amphibious ready groups and submarines to deter aggression from China or North Korea."
The US Navy presently has the Boxer and America amphibious readiness groups in the Pacific, according to the USNI News fleet and maritime tracker. Submarine activities are not broadcast as clearly as those of other ships.
A US Pacific Fleet spokesperson told BI that the US has "several ships operating across the Pacific to promote adherence to a rules-based international order, as well as maintain the presence and flexibility to rapidly respond to persistent and emergent missions."
Navy Ensign Sarah Weinstein
The recent changes in the force posture of US naval power come amid rising tensions in the Pacific, particularly as China continues its aggressive behavior.
On Monday, a Chinese military spy plane violated Japanese airspace for the first time, and China also continues to confront Philippine vessels and aircraft in the South China Sea. It has also been upping its pressure on Taiwan, continuing to trigger concerns about a quarantine, potential blockade, or invasion.
The US military serves as a security guarantor for Taiwan and American allies in the Indo-Pacific region. As tensions rise, so do the risks, highlighting the value of being able to maintain deterrence in this region the way it is in the Middle East. That doesn't all hinge on a carrier, but the gap is notable nonetheless.
