By: Christopher P. Cavas
WASHINGTON — The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and her strike group have been ordered to cancel planned visits to Australia and head back to Korean waters, the U.S. Navy announced Saturday night. The carrier was already operating in the western Pacific and had just visited Singapore.
“U.S. Pacific Command ordered the Carl Vinson Strike Group north as a prudent measure to maintain readiness and presence in the Western Pacific,” Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for the command, said in a statement.
“Third Fleet ships operate forward with a purpose: to safeguard U.S. interests in the Western Pacific,” Benham continued. “The number one threat in the region continues to be North Korea, due to its reckless, irresponsible, and destabilizing program of missile tests and pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.”
North Korea has an aggressive campaign to develop ballistic missiles with a stated aim of attacking the United States. The most recent launch, on April 5, featured what U.S. defense officials called an extended range Scud missile, a medium-range weapon. The missile apparently suffered an in-flight failure and crashed in the Sea of Japan after travelling about 40 miles.
In another test on March 6, North Korea simultaneously launched four ballistic missiles which flew about 620 miles before falling into the sea. Apparently as a result, the United States accelerated the planned deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, to South Korea.
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