U.S. Navy announces swap of Japan-based aircraft carriers in 2024

USS George Washington to return to Yokosuka to replace the Ronald Reagan

The USS George Washington departs a dry dock to moor at a pier at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia in September 2019. © U.S. Navy

KEN MORIYASU, Nikkei Asia diplomatic correspondent

April 28, 2023 16:59 JST

Updated on April 29, 2023 07:01 JST

TOKYO -- The U.S. Navy announced on Friday that the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington will return to Yokosuka, Japan, next year. It will replace the USS Ronald Reagan as the Navy's sole forward-deployed carrier, tasked with projecting American naval power in the Indo-Pacific.