The Navy's Pacific Fleet says a fighter jet and a helicopter based off the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz both crashed into the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each other.

China’s newest aircraft carrier may only be able to conduct air operations at about 60% the rate of a 50-year-old US Navy carrier, two former US carrier officers say, a substantial combat limitation for a vessel meant to revolutionize Beijing’s fleet.

Chinese media mocked the two US navy aircraft crashes in the South China Sea, which occurred juat a day after two US military officers criticized China's new Fujian aircraft carrier's capabilities

It does not appear at first glance that the two crashes are directly linked. Instead, both aircraft seem to have crashed in part due to hostile weather.

A US Navy helicopter and a fighter jet both crashed in the same half-hour on Sunday during separate routine operations over the South China Sea, with all crew members safely rescued, the Navy’s Pacific Fleet said.

The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier has made headlines for its planned retirement, but several other U.S. Navy ships are set to be decommissioned in 2026.

Nobody has what we have,” Trump said in an address to service members aboard the forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington at its Japanese home port of Yokosuka. China boasts the world’s largest navy by hull count with over 370 ships and submarines.

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, billed by the US Navy as “the most capable, adaptable, and lethal combat platform in the world,” is being sent to the Caribbean as the Trump administration ramps up military pressure on Venezuela over alleged drug trafficking.