The guided missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) transits the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: MC2 Scott Barnes/US Navy.

The US Navy’s Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) has entered the disputed South China Sea for second time this year.

The aircraft carrier group is on scheduled deployment to the US 7th Fleet area of operations, which is the US Navy’s largest forward-deployed fleet.

During its 2021 deployment, TRCSG first entered the South China Sea in January.

The strike group will conduct flight operations with fixed and rotary-wing aircraft and maritime strike exercises.

Carrier Strike Group Nine commander rear admiral Doug Verissimo said: “It is great to be back in the South China Sea to reassure our allies and partners that we remain committed to freedom of the seas.

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“Over the course of the strike group’s deployment, we have demonstrated our commitment to the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region by operating with our friends from Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea.”

7th Fleet routinely ‘operates and interacts’ with 35 maritime nations. It is engaged in conducting missions to ‘preserve and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific region’.

TRCSG includes USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11, Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) and Destroyer Squadron 23, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Russell (DDG 59) and USS John Finn (DDG 113).

USS Theodore Roosevelt commanding officer captain Eric Anduze said: “I could not be more proud of the hard work and professionalism that this crew has shown every day during this deployment.

“Our sailors’ tenacity and warfighting prowess is unmatched and is a testament to our Navy’s resolve to maintain free and prosperous seas.”

In February, two carrier strike groups conducted joint exercises in the South China Sea.