A U.S. aircraft carrier is sailing through the disputed South China Sea in the latest display of America's military might after China built a string of islands with military facilities in the strategic sea it claims almost in its entirety.

The U.S. Navy flew a small group of Philippine generals, officials and journalists on Tuesday to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, where fighter jets landed and took off by catapult with thunderous blasts.

Recent U.S. deployments of aircraft carriers, backed by destroyers, to the disputed waters for freedom of navigation challenges to Beijing's territorial claims are reassuring allies but also sparking concerns with China's own show of force in the busy waterway.