On April 1, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hisham Mudin called Foreign Minister Wang Yi his eternal “big brother” in China, comments that were heavily criticized by the Malaysian opposition. A week later, the Malaysian military launched a joint exercise with the U.S. Army in the South China Sea.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a message on its official website on April 7 that the U.S. Navy’s USS Roosevelt carrier battle group held an exercise with the Royal Malaysian Air Force in the South China Sea from April 6 to 7, the first joint exercise between the U.S. and Malaysia in 2021.
The USS Roosevelt carrier and its 11th Carrier Air Wing conducted multiple types of air combat training with the Royal Malaysian Air Force, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a message, adding that “both nations had the opportunity to sharpen their tactics and improve their ability to operate side-by-side,” with the exercise focusing on joint air operations and force integration between the two nations. The USS Roosevelt carrier battle group is on track to deploy in the U.S. Seventh Fleet area to help ensure “freedom of the seas,” safeguard U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific region and act as a deterrent to potentially harmful actions. This is the third time in a year that the aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt has entered the South China Sea.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet also released scenes of joint exercises between USS Roosevelt and Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) warplanes, where F/A-18E/F carrier-based fighters from the USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier and Malaysian Air Force Su-30MKMs can be seen in formation. The F/A-18E/F naval fighters from the USS Roosevelt and the Su-30MKM from the Malaysian Air Force were seen flying in formation over the aircraft carrier Roosevelt. Malaysia’s Su-30MKM fighter jets, made in Russia, are among the most advanced fighters in Malaysia, and it is not often that such Russian-made fighters fly over U.S. aircraft carriers.
Recent Comments