In late September, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73)—pictured here with Sailors on the flight deck forming a Japanese phrase meaning "nice to meet you"—arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, to replace the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) as the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed carrier. Commissioned in 1961, the aging Kitty Hawk served in Japan for a decade, having replaced the USS Independence (CV-62) there in 1998. The Kitty Hawk is due to decommission in late January 2009 as the sole conventionally-powered aircraft carrier remaining in U.S. service. Aware that no fossil-fuel-powered alternatives were available, the Japanese government reluctantly agreed to her replacement by the nuclear-powered George Washington. Although initially scheduled to arrive in Yokosuka in June, the replacement carrier's deployment was delayed for several months because of a 22 May fire that reportedly cost $70 million to repair. Commissioned on 4 July 1992, the 100,000-ton nuclear-powered carrier is by far the largest U.S. warship ever forward deployed.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense recently approved the deployment of female sailors to begin serving on board a number of Maritime Self-Defense Force warships starting in 2009. With roughly 45,000 personnel, Japan's maritime force contains only a token 2,000 female members, but as a result of this decision they will be permitted to serve on board select destroyers, minesweepers, and naval helicopters. Though expected to be a slow transition, the change of personnel rules may ease some JMSDF personnel shortages. The test ship for the integration of female sailors is expected to be the new 13,500-ton helicopter-carrying destroyer Hyuga. Planned to commission in March 2009, the Hyuga is being outfitted with separate male and female living quarters.
Amid rising tensions with the West after their invasion of Georgia, the Russian Navy sent warships to Venezuela in September as the two nations strengthen military ties. The nuclear-powered Petr Velikiy, a 26,400-ton (full load) Kirov-class guided-missile cruiser and the 8,950-ton (full load) Udaloy II-class destroyer Admiral Chabanenko—pictured here alongside the USS San Jacinto (CG-56) while taking part in Mediterranean Sea exercises in January 2008—departed Northern Fleet bases on 22 September along with support ships and roughly 1,000 personnel. The Russian warships were expected to rendezvous in November with Hugo Chavez's naval forces in the Caribbean Sea. Earlier this September, two Russian Air Force Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers visited the oil-rich South American nation to conduct flight-training maneuvers. Since 2004 Venezuela has purchased more then $4 billion of weapons from Russian suppliers.
Mr. Wertheim, a defense consultant in the Washington, D.C., area, is the author of The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, 15th edition, currently available from the Naval Institute Press at www.usni.org.