Will A-4Skyhawks Fly Off the GW?

We observed on Monday that the USS George Washington (CVN 73) and two Navy escorts are visiting Rio de Janeiro to exercise with Brazil and Argentina in UNITAS XLIX. The Brazil Naval Blog suggested that four ships were visiting, and we were curious what the fourth ship was. Luckily, the Brazil Naval Blog comes through on cue, and highlights the fourth vessel as the USCGC Northland (WMEC-904).

After reading the Partnership of Americas 2008 fact sheet, we noticed something that didn't register at the time but might be something to watch for.

During the in-port and underway phases of exercise UNITAS Atlantic, we will work with Brazil and Argentina (and other navies that may accept Brazil’s invitation to participate).

We will train together in multi-warfare exercises designed to increase coalition skills of all navies involved. The carrier and air wing’s participation will accomplish several things:

1. Allow us to integrate with officers and sailors from our Brazilian sister ship, Sao Paulo, and naval aviation squadron VF-1.
2. Build relationships by giving pilots, landing signal officers, air traffic controllers and fighter controllers from Brazil, Argentina, and the U.S. opportunities to train together.

The Sao Paulo was placed in dry dock on January 14th and pulled out of dry dock on March 27th, only a few weeks ago. While it is possible the Sao Paulo will be participating in the UNITAS exercise, I keep thinking I read something about the Sao Paulo being out of service until later this year undergoing repairs.

We believe this means it is very possible that Brazilian A-4 Skyhawks will be flying off the deck of the USS George Washington (CVN 73) over the next few weeks. If true, that should produce some interesting photography, because unless someone is aware of something we are not, I believe this would be the first time the A-4 Skyhawk operated off a Nimitz class aircraft carrier.

Foreign aircraft flying off US aircraft carriers may be a theme over the next few months, we still expect the French to fly off the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in July.