An F/A-18E Super Hornet with Strike Fighter Squadron 14 launches from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the South China Sea, Jan. 4, 2026. (Samuel Evarts/U.S. Navy)
The USS Abraham Lincoln recently held live-fire drills in the South China Sea, where the aircraft carrier has been operating for at least two weeks, according to the U.S. Navy.
The Abraham Lincoln, which deployed to the Indo-Pacific from its homeport of San Diego on Nov. 24, has been in the South China Sea since at least Dec. 26, according to photos posted to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website.
Since then, the carrier has kept busy with flight operations, replenishments-at-sea, damage control training and explosive ordinance disposal drills. Its escort ships, which include the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance, have also participated.
A spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, Cmdr. Matthew Comer, described the warships’ activities as “routine operations,” in an email Monday.
On Thursday, the Abraham Lincoln continued training with a live-fire drill involving a Phalanx Close-In Weapon System — mounted turrets designed to counter incoming missiles, aircraft and boats, according to the photo captions.
The ship was still in the South China Sea as of Friday, according to those images.
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln fires a Phalanx Close-In Weapon System during live-fire training in the South China Sea, Jan. 8, 2026. (Shepard Fosdyke-Jackson/U.S. Navy)
Warships operating in the fleet’s area of responsibility regularly patrol the Indo-Pacific to “deter aggression, strengthen alliances and partnerships, and advance peace through strength,” according to the captions.
Shortly after the Abraham Lincoln arrived in the South China Sea, Beijing kicked off a live-fire drill Dec. 29 and 30 that encircled Taiwan, which lies between the East and South China seas.
The exercise, dubbed Justice Mission 2025, was intended as a “punitive and deterrent action” against Taiwan and countries that support its independence, China’s Eastern Theater Command said at the time.
Beijing views Taiwan, a functional democracy, as a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Comer did not respond to Stars and Stripes’ questions about the Abraham Lincoln’s activities or whether they were related to the Chinese drills.
The carrier left San Diego in November alongside the Spruance and guided-missile destroyers USS Michael Murphy and USS Frank E. Peterson Jr. In mid-December, the Abraham Lincoln stopped in Guam, the United States’ westernmost territory and a hub for military activity in the region, before heading for the Philippine Sea.
