The U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the flagship for Carrier Strike Group 5, arrived in Da Nang City, central Vietnam on Sunday morning, beginning a five-day port call.

The Carrier Strike Group is headed by the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam, followed by the USS Ronald Reagan with a dozen fighter aircraft parked on its deck.

At around 10:00 am the same day, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls was the last one in the CSG 5 to head toward Da Nang Bay.

A welcome ceremony for the U.S. strike group was held by the local authorities at Tien Sa Port on the afternoon of the same day.

During the five-day visit, the U.S. naval delegation will take part in multiple friendly exchange activities in Da Nang, a popular beach destination in central Vietnam.

This is the third time that a U.S. aircraft carrier has visited Vietnam since 2018.

The visit marks a special occasion as the two countries celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Vietnam-U.S. Comprehensive Partnership.

A U.S. aircraft carrier first visited Vietnam in March 2018 following the normalization of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The 2018 visit was made by the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer.

The second visit from a U.S. aircraft carrier to Vietnam was the USS Theodore Roosevelt in March 2020, along with the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, as part of the activities to mark the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam-U.S. diplomatic ties.​

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