According to global ship tracking data, a missile measurement ship belonging to the United States Military Sealift Command (MSC) has been spotted in the geopolitically sensitive waters of the Yellow Sea in China. The U.S. military’s activities come as the Pentagon warns of the increasing missile threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party in the Indo-Pacific region.
MarineTraffic vessel tracking data shows that the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen missile measurement ship left Sasebo Bay in western Japan near a U.S. military base on June 6, crossed the East China Sea, and arrived near the eastern coast of China in the Yellow Sea.
The last known location of the missile measurement ship was on June 26 in the Yellow Sea, approximately 160 kilometers from the Shandong Peninsula in China.
The “Howard O. Lorenzen” is a specialized mission ship designed by the United States to monitor missile launches, supporting specific missions for the U.S. Navy and government departments.
Equipped with the “Cobra King” radar system, part of the Pentagon’s “Cobra Program,” responsible for monitoring missile and space launches, the specific purpose of its operations in the Yellow Sea remains unknown to the public.
Currently, U.S. officials have not provided a clear response or issued a statement on the matter. There has been no official response from the Chinese side either.
In addition, according to vessel tracking data, another MSC specialized mission ship, the USNS Victorious ocean surveillance ship, appeared in the disputed waters of the South China Sea at the end of May. The ship is designed to collect underwater sonar data to support U.S. anti-submarine warfare. Its current location is shown near the Philippines.
In the face of the Chinese Communist Party’s increasing military expansion, the Trump administration is accelerating the strengthening of military deployments in the Indo-Pacific region. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously stated that the U.S. “will not concede to the Chinese Communist Party” and emphasized that the U.S. military must be prepared at every level to “respond with the strength to counter the threats.”