[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Unusual Strengthening of US Forces in Japan

On October 10 last year, the South Korean and U.S. navies launched large-scale joint exercises across all waters around the Korean Peninsula until October 15, showcasing their retaliation against North Korea's provocations with naval forces including the U.S. Navy's latest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] The US Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is moving to the Indo-Pacific, drawing attention to changes in military power on the Korean Peninsula. With two carriers, including the USS Ronald Reagan based at Yokosuka Port in Japan, operating simultaneously, a de facto 'two-top' system is formed, which is being evaluated as an unprecedented power enhancement.

According to military experts on the 19th, the US Navy's Carrier Strike Group 9 (TRCSG), with CVN-71 as its flagship, departed its home port of San Diego on the 17th (local time). Although the US has announced the carrier's destination as the 'Indo-Pacific,' it is expected to alternate missions between the Western Pacific Sea and the South China Sea, which are part of the 7th Fleet's operational area.

CVN-71, belonging to the 3rd Fleet that oversees the Eastern Pacific, also moved to the 7th Fleet's operational area in March 2018 to carry out missions. In November 2017, the aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), USS Nimitz (CVN-68), and USS Theodore Roosevelt conducted joint exercises around the Korean Peninsula, demonstrating a high-intensity show of force against North Korea. It was extremely rare for three aircraft carriers to conduct joint exercises at that time.

Japan has seven United Nations Command rear bases that can be used without Japanese government approval in emergencies. These include Yokosuka (Navy), Yokota (Air Force), Camp Zama (Army), and Sasebo (Navy) on the Japanese mainland, as well as Kadena (Air Force), White Beach (Navy), and Futenma (Marine Corps) in Okinawa.

The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is stationed at the US Forces Japan Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture. The USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier belonging to the 7th Fleet, is a state-of-the-art carrier with a displacement of 102,000 tons. It carries over 5,500 personnel, and its deck is 1,800 square meters, equivalent to the size of three soccer fields. It is equipped with Super Hornet (F/A-18) fighters, electronic warfare aircraft (EA-6B), and airborne early warning aircraft (E-2C), earning it the nickname 'floating military base.'

Among the forces composing the CVN-71 carrier strike group is the USS Pinckney (DDG-91), an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer equipped with 'Baseline 7,' the first to have intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) interception capability. Included in the group are also the USS Russell (DDG-59) and USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60) destroyers. The Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), equipped with Tomahawk land-attack missiles, also participates in the carrier strike group.

The US military recently added the USS America to the 7th Fleet. Commissioned in 2014, the USS America is the US Navy's latest amphibious assault ship, measuring 257 meters in length with a full load displacement of 45,000 tons, comparable to a medium-sized aircraft carrier. The USS America (LHA-6) can carry 23 vertical takeoff and landing F-35B jets and 36 aircraft including MV-22B Osprey tiltrotors. Considering that the US military typically deploys one carrier per fleet, this represents an unusual power enhancement.

Additionally, the 25,000-ton semi-stealth transport amphibious ship USS New Orleans has been deployed to Sasebo Port. The USS New Orleans, part of the US 7th Fleet based at Yokosuka, participated in the 2017 South Korea-US joint amphibious landing exercise. In the event of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula, it supports the deployment of US Marine Corps forces stationed in Japan, including the USS America, which also belongs to the 7th Fleet. The USS New Orleans is 208 meters long with a displacement of 25,000 tons and was built with a stealth design that is difficult to detect by radar. It carries Osprey (MV-22) aircraft.

The US Navy in Korea stated that the deployment of the USS America and USS New Orleans is intended to replace the guided missile destroyer USS Stethem (DDG 63) and the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), which were previously stationed at Sasebo Port. Experts interpret the forward deployment of the USS America and USS New Orleans in the Western Pacific as part of efforts to counter China's rapid naval power expansion, including aircraft carrier construction, under the banner of a 'blue-water navy.' It is also analyzed that reinforcement was necessary because the USS Ronald Reagan is currently under maintenance.

Recently, a US Air Force nuclear detection special reconnaissance aircraft arrived at a US Forces Japan base in Japan. The aircraft model is the WC-135 (Constant Phoenix), of which the US government owns only two, and its primary mission is nuclear test detection.

The WC-135W is better known by its nickname 'Sniffer.' It is equipped with an atmospheric sampling device shaped like an engine on the side of its fuselage. This device collects radioactive materials released during nuclear explosions caused by artificial atomic disintegration, analyzes them to determine whether a nuclear test has occurred, and distinguishes between enriched uranium, plutonium, and hydrogen bombs.

It has not been specifically confirmed whether the WC-135W's movement to Kadena Air Base was merely a stopover or for operational purposes. In August last year, the WC-135W also landed at Yokota Air Base while en route from the Indian Ocean to the US mainland. The WC-135W belongs to the 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron under the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

Some speculate that because the US military often dispatches reconnaissance aircraft stationed at US Forces Japan bases to the East Sea, special reconnaissance aircraft like the WC-135W may fly over the East Sea airspace. The WC-135W played a key role in tracking radiation leaks during the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in the Soviet Union. It also flew over the Korean Peninsula during nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in 1998 and North Korea's nuclear tests.

Some predict that as military tensions between North America increase, the retirement of the US Air Force's F-117 stealth fighter-bombers may be delayed. To conduct preemptive strikes on North Korean command centers or missile bases, the laser-guided bunker buster GBU-27 is necessary. However, the F-22 Raptor and F-35 cannot carry large bombs like bunker busters, so the F-117 fighter-bomber is strategically maintained. The official retirement date of the F-117 was 2008. However, the US aviation magazine Combat Aircraft published photos in its May issue showing an F-117 flying in California, revealing its continued activity.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.