Aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson has arrived in Vietnam on Monday for the first time since
the end of the Vietnam War, dramatically underscoring the growing strategic ties between the former
foes at a time when China’s regional influence is rising.
China has a long history of maritime disputes with its South China Sea neighbors.
It claims almost all of the South China Sea, including islands more than 800 miles (~1300
km) from the Chinese mainland, despite objections from neighbors such as the Philippines, Malaysia,
Brunei and Vietnam.
According to the US, China has reclaimed more than 3,000 acres in the Spratly Islands since
2014 and outfitting some of them with military features.
China’s rapid construction and build-up of the land it holds in the disputed Spratly
islands group has alarmed Vietnam and other regional governments as it seeks to enforce
its claims to much of the disputed waterway, through which some $3 trillion in trade passes
each year.
The arrival of the Vinson marks the biggest U.S. military presence in Vietnam since 1975
- but it also illustrates Hanoi’s complex and evolving relationship with Beijing over
the disputed South China Sea as China announced its largest rise in defense spending in three
years
Though the US takes no position on the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, its warships
have conducted routine "freedom of navigation" operations near the reclaimed islands, eliciting
warnings from Beijing.
Docking of USS Carl Vinson, is seen by military experts as a way of sending direct message
to China and reassuring the US allies.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes HOW FORMIDABLE USS CARL VINSON IS & WHY ITS VISIT
TO VIETNAM IS A MESSAGE FOR CHINA?
So, lets get started.
USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is the third United States Navy Nimitz-class super carrier and
is named after Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia, in recognition of his contributions
to the US Navy.
The ship was launched in 1980, and was commissioned on 13 March 1982.
It has been deployed in Operation Desert Strike, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Southern
Watch, and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Notably the body of Osama bin Laden was buried at sea in 2011 from the deck of the Carl Vinson.
USS Carl Vinson being a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was designed to be improvements on
previous U.S. aircraft carriers, in particular the Enterprise and Forrestal-class.
All 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers including Carl Vinson were constructed between 1968
and 2006 at Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Virginia, in the largest dry-dock in the western
hemisphere.
These are some of the largest vessels constructed.
USS Carl Vinson has a displacement of 100000 tonnes, and overall length of 332.8 m (1,092 feet).
To give viewers a perspective, it is about 3 football fields long.
USS Carl Vinson is powered by two A4W nuclear reactors, kept in separate compartments.
These power 4 propeller shafts and can produce a maximum speed of over 30 knots or 56 km/h.
As a result of the use of nuclear power, the ship is capable of operating continuously
for over 20 years without refueling, and is predicted to have a service life of over 50 years.
Practically it has unlimited range & endurance.
The Vinson carries a flight group of more than
60 aircraft, including F-18 jet fighters.
These are twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable 4th generation multirole fighter
aircrafts.
They have a payload of 7700 kg (17000 lbs), and can carry ground attack weapons as well
as air-to-air missiles.
The versatility of the aircraft can be gauged from the fact that on the first day of Operation
Desert Storm, two F 18, each carrying four 2,000 lb. bombs, shot down two Iraqi Migs
and then proceeded to deliver their bombs on target.
The flotilla of aircrafts has enough firepower to mount a credible offensive against any
Chinese misadventure.
It is expected to field F 35 Lightning II 5th generation stealth fighters in future.
USS Carl Vinson possesses multitude of different radars including electronically scanned array
3D radars.
It is equipped with 16 to 24 RIM-7 Sea Sparrow or NATO Sea Sparrow missiles.
RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a US ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system,
primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles.
Its range is 19 km.
Close in weapon (CIWS) duties are performed by Phalanx, & RIM-116 Rolling Airframe missile.
Phalanx CIWS has a 4500 /min rate of fire.
RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles have speed in excess of 2 Mach.
Apart from being build with high strength steel, it has 2.5 inch (64 mm) Kevlar over
vital spaces.
A recent study of Vietnam’s military modernization by Grossman, published by the Seattle-based
National Bureau of Asian Research, found that Hanoi would struggle to sustain a large-scale
conflict if its deterrence strategy failed.
Despite the acquisition of its first submarines, new Russian jet fighters and missiles, Vietnam
faced extensive deployment and integration hurdles.
In this situation, assuring presence of USS Vinson will give a big boast to U.S-Vietnam
strategic relations.
This move has long term ramifications and is expected to be a worry for China.
While some Chinese commentators have used the Vinson’s presence to demand an even
greater Chinese military build-up in the South China Sea, official reaction from Beijing
has been relatively muted since the stop was announced in January.
That announcement came during a two-day visit to Hanoi by U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis
and followed months of backroom military diplomacy between Hanoi and the Pentagon.
Although no U.S aircraft carrier has been to Vietnam since the end of the war, other,
smaller U.S. warships have made high-level visits.
U.S officials have said American warships continue sailing without prior notice close
to China-occupied Islands and atolls, an aggressive way of signaling to Beijing that it does not
recognize its sovereignty over those areas.