Indo-Pacific — 2026-07-31

USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group Arrives in Da Nang for First US Carrier Visit to Vietnam Since 2023 Amid South China Sea Tensions

BLUFDa Nang's rotating carrier visits have calcified into routine port diplomacy that signals American presence in the South China Sea without deepening Washington's strategic leverage over Hanoi's hedging calculus.

The USS George Washington and escorts USS Robert Smalls and USS Shoup arrived in Da Nang on Thursday for a scheduled port visit, the Navy said, marking the first US carrier stop in Vietnam since USS Ronald Reagan's 2023 visit 123. The carrier and its escorts brought roughly 5,000 sailors, and Carrier Strike Group 5 leaders planned meetings with Vietnamese military and civilian officials alongside cultural exchanges and community service events, according to ship spokesman Lt. Robert Dixon 3. The Navy Times reported the visit came days after a July 20 incident in which Chinese Coast Guard personnel struck a Philippine Navy service member with a wooden baton and a July 24 water-cannon confrontation near Scarborough Shoal 4. Stars and Stripes reported the US ships arrived one day after two Russian vessels, the submarine UFA and rescue ship Igor Belousov, departed Cam Ranh following a joint rescue exercise with Vietnam's navy, citing Vietnamese outlet Thanh Nien and Russia's Interfax 3.

Analysis
Hanoi's hosting of American sailors one day after a Russian submarine departed Cam Ranh reflects continued hedging between Washington and Moscow rather than a tilt toward either patron, extending institutionalized carrier diplomacy dating to 2018 that brings a US flattop to Da Nang roughly every two years regardless of political climate. Coming days after Chinese Coast Guard baton and water-cannon incidents against Philippine vessels, the visit signals US presence without altering Washington's non-allied relationship with Hanoi, and Vietnam's parallel land reclamation and outreach to India and Japan for defense equipment point to diversification rather than consolidation around one power. The carrier group's shift from South China Sea patrol posture to a scheduled port call may simply reflect independent scheduling rather than deliberate balancing. Sourcing draws broad convergence from one primary Navy release and three independently reported secondary accounts.

4 sources

USS George Washington Arrives in Da Nang, First Carrier Visit to Vietnam since 2023 - USNI News
George Washington Arrives in Da Nang, Highlighting Enduring U.S.-Vietnam Partnership - U.S. Navy
USS George Washington makes first carrier visit to Vietnam since COVID-19 pandemic - Stars and Stripes
USS George Washington arrives in Vietnam amid China-Philippines strain - Navy Times