Carl Vinson carrier strike group

The USS Carl Vinson and its strike group are now nearing the Korean peninsula amid growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea

USS CARL VINSON
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier 
Length: 333m

Armament: Sea Sparrow and Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, Phalanx CIWS*, electronic
warfare and torpedo countermeasures

*Close-in weapon system

Propulsion: Two nuclear reactors Speed: 30+ knots Crew: 5,200

Typical aircraft capacity: Approximately 60+

F/A-18 Hornet (fighter-bomber): 48 

EA-18G (electronic attack): 4

E-2 Hawkeye (surveillance): 4

MH-60 (multirole helicopter): 6

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CARRIER STRIKE GROUP

Submarine: Nuclear-powered USS Michigan with 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles (expected to join group)

Destroyers: USS Wayne E. Meyer, USS Michael Murphy

Other ships: Japanese destroyers Samidare and Ashigara

Outer defence zone: Fighters and surveillance aircraft on patrol

Area defence zone: Protective umbrella formed by ship-based missiles

Point defence zone: Most ships deployed close to carrier to concentrate fire if enemy missile gets through


Cruiser: USS Lake Champlain

550km
200km
20km

Carrier

Not to scale. Distances are approximate

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Sources: Japan Times, Johns Hopkins University, Kable, UPI, U.S. Navy 

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