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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 1h

Spanish amphibious carrier ESPS Juan Carlos I visible in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, having entered the drydock near Cadiz

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 9h

While we couldn't see it in the ascending pass of the satellite, the USS Abraham Lincoln is visible in the descending pass of today's Sentinel-1 radar images, returning back to San Diego after its deployment.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The USS Abraham Lincoln has turned on its AIS radio and is returning to San Diego. Looks like we'll just miss them in tonight's radar stripe.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

USS Harry S. Truman in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, having entered the drydock for mid-life refueling and overhaul.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Vikrant returned from exercises in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images. Pretty sure the Vikramaditya is still at the pier also but there is a very precisely-located cloud over the most of it.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Amphibious carrier USS Makin Island in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, alongside another amphibious ship in its task group.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

HMS Queen Elizabeth south of the Plymouth breakwater in today's Sentinel-1 radar images.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian visible back at the pier near Sanya in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Finally a clear day over Shanghai in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images and we can see the amphibious carrier Hainan has left the drydock. Had some uncertainty about whether this was the Hainan or another Type 075 but a photo of the ship has confirmed its identity.

Type 075 Hainan, attributed to watermarked wei bo account.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Turkish Navy amphibious drone carrier Anadolu returned to the pier at the base near Marmaris in today's Sentinel-2 images, following anti-submarine exercises deploying sonobuoys using its complement of fixed-wing combat drones.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

KRI Sriwijaya finally visible in 10m resolution in today's Sentinel-2 satellite imaging. As it turns out the ship was formally inducted into the Indonesian Navy yesterday. It's on the smaller side (relatively of course) so detail isn't the greatest but the island emerges upon contrast-stretching.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Japanese helicopter carrier JS Ise at the pier in Subic Bay in the Philippines, where it has been dispatched for joint exercises. Experimenting with visualizing the imaging stripe a little bit in my map insets. [I also like the way the landing spots are often super clear on the Hyuga class ships]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hy%C5%ABga-class_helicopter_destroyer#/media/File:DDH-181_%E3%81%B2%E3%82%85%E3%81%86%E3%81%8C_(12).jpg

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Turkish amphibious drone carrier TCG Anadolu operating around the naval base near Marmaris in today's radar images, following exercises deploying sonobuoys from its embarked TB3 combat drones.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

HMS Queen Elizabeth spotted in the Celtic Sea in radar images from the 22nd. Hadn't spotted them since they headed back out to sea on the 21st but then saw they were near a coastline receiving helicopters in public reporting yesterday and figured that'd be near the RNAS base in Somerset.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, in the usual PLAN training spot south of the Yulin Base

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Mystery solved on why the Prince of Wales had the AIS radio going for awhile -- they were flipping it around at the pier.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The Sriwijaya (former Garibaldi) at the pier in Jakarta. [Not sure when its formal induction into the Indonesian navy is planned but finally have a wholly unclouded view of the ship in today's Landsat images, so I've debuted its new name and infocard.]

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Indian Navy aircraft carrier Vikrant west of the Karwar Base in today's USGS Landsat images.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

USS Abraham Lincoln at the carrier pier at Guam in yesterday's landsat images. The same view is cloudy in today's Sentinel-2 images but they appear to have already departed again.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

HMS Queen Elizabeth in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, finally unoccluded by clouds. I imagine they'll be on the move in a day or two here.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

USS Abraham Lincoln maneuvering around Guam in yesterday's Landsat images. Should be a view of it at the pier in today's Landsat pass and tomorrow's Sentinel-2 pass.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The back half of Italian light aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi in Jakarta, having completed its transfer journey to Indonesia. The ship will now be known as the Sriwijaya as part of the Indonesian Navy.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Appears the Vikrant is out to sea again. Didn't spot it nearby but will take a closer look later.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The missing escort makes sense now -- the cruiser arrived in Yokosuka today making pretty good time so they had probably gone on ahead earlier.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Looks like the Fujian is out to sea. Might be behind this big wall of clouds if they're training just south of Hainan again.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Another view of HMS Queen Elizabeth at the depot in Loch Long in today's Sentinel-1 radar images. No new developments I just liked this radar image of the carrier better, with nice reflections for both islands and the ski-jump.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Two days in a row missing the Garibaldi behind the clouds on its transfer journey to the Indonesian Navy. Previous reporting suggested the ship would be named the Gaja Madah, but it now appears it will be called the Sriwijaya In addition to rotorcraft it will presumably operate TB3 combat drones.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

HMS Queen Elizabeth in today's Sentinel-1 satellite images, docked at the Glenmallan jetty in Loch Long. [I suspected they'd make their way up this way eventually but they've nevertheless been eluding me all week despite relatively good radar coverage of the Irish Sea]

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Italian amphibious carrier Trieste visible in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, having entered drydock in the city of the same name.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Yeah I'm not the best at gueoguessr but this radar scene corresponds to sunrise in Surigao [~5:30AM, UTC+8] and would seem to corroborate the landmasses visible in this post from the ship's social media account.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Pretty sure there's a second view of the Lincoln in yesterday's radar images in the descending pass 12 hours later, which would reflect an average speed of about 10 knots. Only seeing the one ship trailing nearby for an escort however.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning returned to port at the Yuchi base near Qingdao in today's Sentinel-1 radar images, following a brief training excursion in the Yellow Sea.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Japanese light aircraft carrier Kaga in yesterday's Sentinel-1 radar images. It's presently parked at the fuel and ordinance depot across from its home pier at the Kure base, where it's been for roughly the past week.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Japanese helicopter carrier JS Ise heading south path Nagasaki in today's satellite images. It is apparently heading to the Philippines for joint training, per machine translation of this bulletin.

Machine translation of bulletpoints:

1 Eye
(1) Improvement of skills in the search and rescue of the Maritime Self-Defense Force
(2) Promotion of mutual understanding with participating national navies, etc., and strengthening of trust and cooperation
2 Period
September 20th (Sun.) to September 26th (Sat.)
3 Place
Subic and surrounding sea and airspace
4 Implementation unit
The destroyer "Ise"
5 Main implementation items
Confirmation of implementation guidelines for search, rescue and on-site inspection

1 Eye
(1) Improvement of skills in the search and rescue of the Maritime Self-Defense Force
(2) Promotion of mutual understanding with participating national navies, etc., and strengthening of trust and cooperation
2 Period
September 20th (Sun.) to September 26th (Sat.)
3 Place
Subic and surrounding sea and airspace
4 Implementation unit
The destroyer "Ise"
5 Main implementation items
Confirmation of implementation guidelines for search, rescue and on-site inspection

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Because I am a stickler, I have revisited this scene of the USS Abraham Lincoln heading into the Malacca straits from the 28th with better detail from the 15m resolution panchromatic channel, now that these data are available in the Copernicus browser.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

USS Abraham Lincoln on its way out from the Sulu Sea to the Pacific in today's Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Image. [Knew right where to look because I was fortunate enough to catch this ADS-B trace around the same time showing a delivery flight to the ship.]

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Today's Sentinel-2 satellite images show the Italian Navy amphibious carrier Trieste making a visit to the city after which it is named.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Another revisitation of a month old scene comparing the same ship in ESA Sentinel-2 imaging with USGS Landsat-8 imaging, with some contrast stretching emphasizing the tight circular wake. The two images are time-stamped minutes apart from one another, and show the ship covering almost 9km distance.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

INS Vikrant in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, having returned to the base at Karwar after a short excursion.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

A "latergram" followup to this month-old image of the Fujian, showing it in formation with the same escorts two days earlier in panchromatically sharpened Landsat-8 images. [experimenting with variations on the panchromatic sharpening in case I want something finer-grained than the default script]

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

JS Kunisaki arrived in Indonesia yesterday to assist in fighting wildfires, with clouds occluding the pier in Kijing in Sentinel-2 images. Used this as a remote sensing challenge to see if I could make out the ship. Tried indexing all visible channels against all IR channels with mixed results.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

USS Theodore Roosevelt back at the pier in San Diego in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, following a pre-deployment outing. [For some visual interest I turned off the default interpolation to show the harsh 10M pixels. Sometimes I must remind myself that this is all the detail I'm working from]

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Italian light aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi in today's Sentinel-2 images. It is presently laid over in Sri Lanka on its transfer journey to the Indonesian Navy, in whose service it will be known as KRI Gajah Mada.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Another view of HMS Queen Elizabeth in today's Sentinel-1 radar images. The ship is on the move and now south of Cornwall some hours later. Not the greatest radar image but the two islands and the big blob from the ski-jump are unmistakable.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

HMS Queen Elizabeth peaking through the haze in Lyme Bay in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images. Some nice shore photography of the ship from earlier this morning by twt/x user @218goldcoast, whose listed location made it very overdetermined where I should look xD

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Nice view of the Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, leaving a nice wake in the waters west of the Karwar Naval Base.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

USS Theodore Roosevelt in the standard carrier checkout zone off the Baja in today's Sentinel-2 images. Has its radio broadcasting but I didn't have to consult it since the wake jumped right out at the 10km zoom level

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Type 076 amphibious drone carrier Sichuan at anchor near Qingdao in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images. Possibly engaged in testing of the GJ-21 combat drones it is intended to embark.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

USS Ronald Reagan back at the pier in Kitsap in today's Sentinel-2 satellite images, following brief excursion for post-maintenance sea trials.

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Flattop Fiesta @flattopfiesta.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

As predicted, synthetic aperture radar images of the USS Theodore Roosevelt looked much better in the descending pass. Clear corner reflections at the back of the ship and where the deck pinches in at the front, as well as a nice big blob for the island.

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