What do You Mean We're an 11 Carrier Navy in a 15 Carrier World?

just look at it

I’m not sure how much more evidence is needed to prove the point that the US Navy is undercapitalized for what its nation demands of it.

No reason for me to pound out 1,000 words today, just look at Nikkei Asia Washington correspondent Ken Moriyasu’s graphic:

What does this mean?

Less than two months after redirecting the USS Theodore Roosevelt from Asia to the Middle East, the U.S. has now ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln to follow suit. The USS Carl Vinson, which was in Hawaii for RIMPAC, is now headed back to the U.S. Asia is wide open.

Those carriers at home - they aren’t quite what you think.

Let’s review the status of the carriers (h/t to Lolita Baldor’s format, modified):

Deployed

• USS Theodore Roosevelt — Based in San Diego, it deployed to Indo-Pacific Command in January and was then redirected to relieve the Eisenhower.

• USS Abraham Lincoln — Based in San Diego and deployed in July.

Preparing to deploy

• USS George Washington — Sailed this summer from Norfolk to San Diego and later will sail to Japan, where it will be forward deployed, replacing the USS Ronald Reagan.

• USS Harry S. Truman — It is based off the coast of Norfolk in pre-deployment workups. It is about halfway through its training for deployment and doing workups with the strike group. It is expected to deploy in October/November.

• USS Carl Vinson — In Hawaii for the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise that started in July and is expected to deploy into Pacific Command later in the year.

Just Back From Deployment

• USS Ronald Reagan — Was the carrier forward based in Japan. Returned to San Diego in mid-July and will later sail to Bremerton.

• USS Dwight D. Eisenhower — Returned in July to Norfolk after a nine-month deployment, 50% longer than she was supposed to. Assume at least a year at home before available to deploy.

• USS Gerald R. Ford — Returned from deployment January of this year to Norfolk after an eight month deployment, 33% longer than she was supposed to, and entered her maintenance phase, which should last about a year.

Being repaired

• USS George H. W. Bush — It went into maintenance last December.

• USS John C. Stennis — In May 2021, the Stennis went into what’s known as RCOH — the major refueling complex overhaul — which can take four years.

• USS Nimitz — It went into maintenance in October 2023 and will move to workups later this year.

So, what do we have, carrier-wise, to surge to the Pacific in an emergency should things get sporty in the next couple of months?

Let me put this out here from the start, this is unimaginatively optimistic:

Maybe three; Washington, Vinson, and Truman. Perhaps 4 if you forced Reagan … but that would be at a significantly reduced readiness level.

We could probably send Vinson right away. Truman could probably make it happen the first week in September. Buddha knows what has been stripped off Reagan between Japan and San Diego. She may be a no-go for months.

This back of the Daiquiri Lounge cocktail napkin pondering completely ignores the question if we even have enough TACAIR assets to flesh out enough of the airwings to be ready to go on their decks, doesn’t ask if there are enough surface escorts, and whistles past the graveyard of our auxiliaries needed to keep things fed, fueled and armed.

Pray for peace … and for a larger slice of the budgetary pie … sooner rather than later.