US military newspaper Stars and Stripes reports that the USS Wasp and its strike group steamed away from Okinawa on Monday, heading out for its first patrol in the Indo-Pacific region since its homeporting in Japan earlier this year.

The multi-ship strike group has been sailing near Okinawa after leaving its base in Sasebo, Japan earlier this month.

The Wasp is an amphibious assault ship designed as a small aircraft carrier. It recently received a group of F-35Bs in the first official deployment of the advanced stealth fighter aboard a US Navy ship. The F-35B is the vertical takeoff, maritime version of the F-35