Map Shows US and China’s Aircraft Carriers in Pacific This Week [Video]

The United States continued to face a “sea power gap” in the Western Pacific Ocean as none of its six West Coast-based aircraft carriers were underway in the contested region as of September 6.

Meanwhile, two Chinese “flat-tops” were spotted operating in the country’s nearby waters in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, with one of them on sea trial again.

An aircraft carrier sent by Italy, a European member of the U.S.-led military alliance NATO, continued its Indo-Pacific deployment. It reached the South China Sea and visited the Philippines.

Aircraft carriers are major platforms used by countries to project sea power in support of national interests and foreign policy in their immediate region and beyond. The U.S. Navy has the world’s largest aircraft carrier fleet with 11 in service. China ranks second with three ships launched.

Newsweek‘s weekly updatemaps U.S. and Chinese aircraft carrier movements in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. As of September 6, the locations …