Dzirhan Mahadzir – August 9, 2024 3:44 PM
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and Italian Navy carrier ITS Cavour (550) in the Philippine Sea. Italian Navy Photo
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and Italian Navy carrier ITS Cavour (550) drilled together in the Philippine Sea according to an Italian Navy social media post on Friday. Meanwhile amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD-4) arrived in Busan, South Korea on Friday.
The Italian Navy did not release a date as to when the two carriers sailed together but it is likely after the Abraham Lincoln CSG’s departure from Guam on Thursday.
Lincoln along with destroyers USS O’Kane (DDG-77), and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121) departed Guam on while destroyer USS Spruance (DDG-111), also part of the Abraham Lincoln CSG departed Saipan the same day, after conducting a four day port call to the island, according to a Navy release.
Images released by the Italian Navy showed Lincoln sailing together with U.S. two destroyers, Cavour and frigate ITS Alpino (F594), while a combined flight group from the two carriers’ airwings flew overhead.
The Italian Navy stated that event was a “demonstration of interoperability between allies around the world and consolidation of the ability to integrate our forces wherever necessary.”
USNI News earlier reported that the Abraham Lincoln CSG would be deployed to the Middle East, relieving the Theodore Roosevelt CSG, though the timing of the handover has not been announced. The Abraham Lincoln CSG deployed without a cruiser, which will be more the norm in future as the Navy decommissions its cruiser fleet. USNI News understands Petersen is serving in the cruiser role. Three destroyers currently are part of the CSG though the number may increase if the Navy assigns additional destroyers already operating in the Asia-Pacific or in the Middle East to join the CSG.
The Cavour CSG is currently on a deployment to the Indo-Pacific, with an embarked air wing of F-35Bs Lightning IIs Joint Strike Fighters and AVB-8B Harrier IIs. The Cavour CSG recently took part in the Royal Australian Air Force’s multinational Pitch Black exercise that took place around Darwin, Australia from July 12 to Aug. 2 with its airwing augmented with an additional 8 F-35As and Bs flying into Australia as part of the Italian air group flying out from Italy to the exercise.
An Italian Navy release stated that the airwing of the Cavour CSG carried out 22 days of training totalling more than 180 hours of flight time and 110 missions including ground attack, in-flight refueling, take-offs and landings, air-to-air interactions, escort, Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) and command and control.
The Cavour CSG’s deployment is part of meeting the Italian Navy’s target of Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of the F-35B in carrier operations. Capt. Dario Castelli, the carrier air wing commander said in the release that the IOC of the F-35B component will allow it to operate with allies, ensuring complete interoperability and interchangeability.
“Our participation in the Pitch Black 2024 exercise has allowed us to increase and strengthen the ability to project air and naval power from the sea,” said Castelli in the release.
The Cavour CSG is now headed to Japan to carry out drills before moving on to the Philippines, Singapore, India, Pakistan, Oman and Saudi Arabia before heading home to Taranto, Italy.
On Friday, amphibious assault ship Boxer pulled into Busan, South Korea for replenishment and crew rest, according to a report by South Korean media agency Yonhap, citing a Republic of Korea Navy statement. Boxer deployed on Jul.16 after completing rudder repairs that pushed back its planned April deployment to the Indo-Pacific. The big deck then operated around the 3rd Fleet while waiting for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) elements that were to embark on it to wrap up their participation in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC 2024) exercise with the 15th MEU embarking on the ship at sea on Jul. 23 according to DVIDS images.
In other developments, Japan’s Joint Staff Office issued reports on the activities on two PLAN destroyers and a Chinese UAV around its southwest island. In a Thursday release, the JSO stated that at 11 a.m. on Aug. 2, destroyers CNS Nanjing (155) and CNS Lishui (157) were sighted sailing south in an area 49 miles northwest of Uotsuri Island and subsequently sailed south in an area 43 miles west of Uotsuri Island and eventually sailed south in the waters between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan. The release added that on Wednesday, the two PLAN destroyers sailed southwest in the waters between Amami Oshima Island and Yokoate Island to enter the East China Sea. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer escort JS Oyodo (DE-231) a JMSDF P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of Fleet Air Wing 1 based at JMSDF Kanoya Air Base on the main island of Kyushu and a JMSDF P-3C Orion MPA of Fleet Air 5 based at Naha Air Base, Okinawa, shadowed the PLAN ships, according to the release.
On Friday, the JSO issued a release stating that in the morning and afternoon of that day, a Chinese BZK-005 military reconnaissance drone flew in from the East China Sea, then passed through between Okinawa and Miyako Island to reach the Philippine Sea, where it carried out a circuit flight then flew back the same way to return to the East China Sea. In response fighter aircraft of the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) Southwest Air District were scrambled, stated the release.