This past weekend, the US Navy sent an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer to patrol the South China Sea in what the US military has called ‘routine operations’.

Sailing alongside the 97,000-ton USS Vinson is the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer, the Navy announced. The Vinson is said to be carrying more than 60 aircraft, including Super Hornet jet fighters.

Tense standoffs in the South China Sea between the US and China are nothing new – the two superpowers have engaged in a back-and-forth for years, with both sides making overt gestures of military strength and responding to perceived aggression with testy remarks.

… Harry Sa, a research analyst with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ U.S. Programme, said that while US patrols in the area are indeed ‘routine’, this recent expedition has garnered more attention than usual.

“The presence of an aircraft carrier, along with an additional destroyer, is certainly a head turner,” he said.