The USS Carl Vinson transits the Philippine Sea while conducting a bilateral exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force April 23, 2017.
Sailors conduct flight operations on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) flight deck, in the South China Sea April 8, 2017.
A U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the "Blue Hawks" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 78 fires chaff flares during a training exercise near the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the Philippine Sea April 24, 2017. A North Korean official speaking on CNN said the country would not be influenced by outside events. "As long as America continues its hostile acts of aggression, we will never stop nuclear and missile tests," said Sok Chol Won, director of the North's Institute of Human Rights at the Academy of Social Sciences.
Image used for illustrative purpose
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) transits the South China Sea, April 11, 2017. The destroyer is on a deployment with the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group.
A U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the "Blue Hawks" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 78 fires chaff flares during a training exercise near the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the Philippine Sea April 24, 2017.U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sean M. Castellano/Handout via REUTERS
The USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) transits the South China Sea, April 8, 2017.
An F/A-18E Super Hornet from the "Kestrels" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 137 takes off from the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) transiting the South China Sea April 10, 2017.
A U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the "Blue Hawks" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 78 fires chaff flares during a training exercise near the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the Philippine Sea April 24, 2017. In a show of force, the United States is sending the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group to waters off the Korean peninsula, where it will join the USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine that docked in South Korea on Tuesday. South Korea's navy has said it will hold drills with the U.S. strike group.
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson leads the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Atago-class guided-missile destroyer JS Ashigara (L) followed by the JMSDF Murasame-class destroyer JS Samidare during a transit of the Philippine Sea April 26, 2017. The two Japanese destroyers on April 23 began an exercise with the strike group in the Western Pacific as it approaches waters around the Korean peninsula, Japan's navy said.
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson transits the South China Sea while conducting flight operations on April 9, 2017.
USS Carl Vinson on patrol
The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group approaches Korean waters, where it will join the nuclear submarine USS Michigan, amid the North Korean nuclear and missile crisis.