Complicated scenario on North Korea issues warning as US strike group heads to Korean Peninsula
Carrying more than 5,000 sailors and 60 aircraft, the USS
Carl Vinson is escorted by guided-missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS
Michael Murphy and the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain.
The group's ships and air wing provide significant firepower
and strike capability, but balancing the available military options with the
potential of retaliation from North Korea presents a complicated scenario for
US President Donald Trump.
China -- North Korea's closest ally -- has pressed the US to
engage in direct diplomatic negotiations with North Korea.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday that Beijing
understands how dangerous North Korea's nuclear program has become and agrees
action must be taken to stop it, but China hasn't signaled any change in its
approach to Pyongyang since a summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi
Jinping last week.
US allies South Korea and Japan, which has seen previous
North Korean missile tests fall within 200 miles of its coast, both supported
the deployment of the Vinson group.
South Korea said the group's deployment was recognition of
the "grave situation on the Korean Peninsula," while Japan said it
was "important to secure the power of US deterrence."
The White House faces a tough task in convincing North Korea
to give up its nuclear program, retired Gen. Michael Hayden, a former head
of the CIA and National Security Agency told CNN's "New Day."
"No matter what we do there is this move by North Korea
to build missiles and put weapons on top of missiles," Hayden said.
"This is what they count on for regime survival. ...
The best we can do is box it where it is right now," he said. "I
don't think we can make them give up the program."
Missile intercept
Many analysts believe the movement of US warships is likely
defensive in nature, setting the stage for a scenario in which the Vinson
strike group could be called upon to perform a missile intercept.
The three escort warships traveling with the Vinson have
more than 300 combined missile tubes and are outfitted with the Aegis
anti-missile system, according to Bruce Bennett, senior defense analyst at the
think tank Rand Corp.
"If North Korea were to test some number of ballistic
missiles by firing them into the East Sea/Sea of Japan, these warships would
have the potential of intercepting the North Korean test missile," Bennett
said.
Intercepting a long-range rocket test passing overhead would
send a clear message to Kim and would be justifiable as the rockets would
possibly be on course to pass over Japan, according to Peter Layton, a visiting
fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute in Brisbane, Australia.
"The Carl Vinson group is commanded from Hawaii, rather
than the US military base in Japan, so it's a clear American initiative not Japanese
or South Korea one," Layton told CNN. "That may defuse attempts to
link Japan and South Korea and thus limit the possibility of any North Korean
aggression against them."
While the carrier group has been deployed to the Korean
Peninsula in the past, lawmakers are wondering how the US warships will be
directed to respond to another North Korean missile test.
"Are we going to try to shoot that intercontinental
ballistic missile down? Are we going to let the test go on unpaid on unimpeded?
Republican Rep. Will Hurd asked on CNN's "New Day." "These are
questions that should be asked of Congress."
Offensive strike capabilities
The Trump administration has floated the idea of carrying
out preemptive strikes against North Korea, but the scope and method of
potential offensive actions remain unclear.
The Vinson's air wing, made up of more than 40 F/A-18
Hornets, provides the offensive capability to attack enemy targets with bombs
or missiles while the carrier's F/A-18G Growler aircraft have the ability to
jam enemy radars, disrupt enemy electronic surveillance and provide
"cover" for attacking aircraft.
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