The USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is currently in the Western Pacific.

Roosevelt, also nicknamed "Big Stick," is currently cruising with no less than six armed escorts, an unusually high number.

The carrier is one of the best protected ships at sea—if not ever.

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is currently operating in the Pacific Ocean and from the looks of it the “Big Stick” is one of the most well-protected warships in history. USS Roosevelt and its crew of five thousand is currently being escorted by no less than six guided-missile cruisers and destroyers, each packing nearly a hundred missiles. The images reinforce the notion that the U.S. Navy is, ton for ton, the largest and most capable navy sailing today.

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The video and images of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group were posted to YouTube. The video shows USS Roosevelt steaming in formation with a particularly strong group of escorts consisting of one guided missile cruiser and five guided missile destroyers. According to the U.S. Naval Institute News Fleet and Marine Tracker , the Roosevelt CSG is currently somewhere in the West Pacific.

A U.S. Carrier Strike Group (CSG) typically consists of an aircraft carrier, one guided missile cruiser, and two or three guided missile destroyers. The cruiser is the main escort, coordinating the defense of the aircraft carrier, particularly against aerial threats. Lurking somewhere nearby is a nuclear-powered attack submarine protecting the rest of the strike group from subsurface threats.

Front to back: USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Pickney, USS Paul Hamilton, USS Russell, USS Kidd, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Bunker Hill. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Dylan Lavin

The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is unusual because of the large number of escorts. The cruiser is USS Bunker Hill, the oldest of the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers. Bunker Hill is equipped with the Aegis Combat System , including the SPY-1 air defense radar, and is equipped with 122 vertical launch systems. Each VLS is an armored silo capable of carrying SM-2, SM-6, and ESSM air defense missiles, Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles, and anti-submarine rocket torpedoes.

The five destroyers are all Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers: USS Pinckney, USS Russell, USS Paul Hamilton, USS Kidd, and USS Rafael Peralta. USS Russell and USS Hamilton are the oldest ships and were built at a time when the Burke-class ships did not have hangars to embark helicopters. USS Rafael Peralta is one of the newest ships in the fleet. Each of the five destroyers is equipped with 90-96 VLS silos, for a total of 468 silos spread out among the destroyers.

USS Roosevelt leading her escorts, January 25, 2020. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Alexander Williams

In addition to the escorts, USS Theodore Roosevelt’s carrier air wing brings 44 F/A-18E/F strike fighters, approximately 5 EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets, 4 E-2C or E-2D Hawkeye airborne early warning planes, and two C-2A Greyhound transports. The air wing also includes 19 MH-60 helicopters based both on the Roosevelt and her escorts.

In other words, the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group consists of 49 fighters or fighter-like jets and 590 missile silos, each carrying one or more missiles. This is a tremendous amount of firepower equalling that of a small country. It makes Theodore Roosevelt one of the best protected ships in the world—but it also makes the “Big Stick” the biggest target.

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