The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson approaches Naval Base Guam, March 24, 2025. In a video posted to the social media site Instagram Monday, a Russian Ilyushin II-38N “Dolphin” patrol and anti-submarine aircraft is shown conducting a low-altitude pass by the Vinson escorted by a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet and a F-35C Lightning II. (Nathan Jordan/U.S. Navy)
NAPLES, Italy — Navy fighter jets recently intercepted a Russian spy plane flying near an aircraft carrier ordered to the Middle East to support U.S. military strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi militants, officials said.
“Aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 2 intercepted and escorted a Russian aircraft in the vicinity of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson while underway in the Pacific (Ocean),” Lt. Cmdr. Katie Koenig, a spokeswoman for U.S. Pacific Command, said in a statement to Stars and Stripes. She added that the interaction was safe and professional but did not say exactly when the incident occurred.
On Friday, the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group departed Guam after a five-day port visit, the Navy said in a statement the same day. The strike group, which also includes the cruiser USS Princeton and the destroyer USS Sterett, presumably is heading to the Middle East to join the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group already on duty in the Red Sea.
Earlier this month, Vinson carried out naval drills with South Korea and Japan in the East China Sea in an exercise that ended on March 20. That same day, South Korean officials made a strong protest to Russia over repeated airspace violations made by Russian military aircraft in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
In a video posted to the social media site Instagram Monday, a Russian Ilyushin II-38N “Dolphin” patrol and anti-submarine aircraft is shown conducting a low-altitude pass by the Vinson escorted by a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet and a F-35C Lightning II.
“I was up on the flight deck when the dolphin showed up,” one commenter said of the video that appeared to have been taken from the aircraft carrier.
It’s not uncommon for the Russian military to monitor U.S. ships, particularly during exercises and other activities. Much the same, the U.S. also monitors Russian ships and aircraft.
But the proximity of the Russian aircraft to the Vinson was surprising.
“This may be common but that is kind of close,” said another commenter, adding they had experienced similar situations on multiple deployments on four different carriers.
The person who posted the video indicated the incident happened “a few miles off the coast of Russia.” Russia has a small amount of coastline along the Sea of Japan.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered Vinson to the Middle East earlier this month as the U.S. continues to pummel Houthi militants in Yemen with airstrikes to cripple the group’s ability to disrupt shipping in the region.
It will be the second time in six months that the U.S. will operate two aircraft carriers in the Middle East. Hegseth also extended Truman’s deployment a month, The Associated Press reported March 21. Truman departed Norfolk, Va., in September.
Also on Monday, USS Nimitz, the oldest aircraft carrier in the fleet, departed its homeport in Bremerton, Wash., for a regularly scheduled deployment to the Indo-Pacific, the Navy said in a statement the same day.
