Hours after President Donald Trump launched into a stinging attack on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the U.S. Navy said it would carry out strike force drills in the Western Pacific using three aircraft carriers — the first such exercise in a decade. The U.S. 7th Fleet’s announcement of the four-day exercise starting Saturday made no mention of the isolated regime. But the president told South Korea’s parliament Wednesday that the “three largest aircraft carriers in the world loaded to the maximum with magnificent F-35 and F-18 fighter jets” were stationed near the Korean peninsula. The USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carriers will be used for air defense drills, sea surveillance, replenishments at sea, defensive air combat training, and close-in coordinated maneuvers. “It is a rare opportunity to train with two aircraft carriers together, and even rarer to be able to train with three,” U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift said in the statement.

Source: National Post November 09, 2017 16:36 UTC