Lets see if this guy is right ...
https://twitter.com/FlightsSlow/stat...R9J-WIrQk9m2gw
Having 3 carriers (and all their support ships and subs) together in the same area seems to indicate this was planned quite a bit in advance!
It's not feasible to blackout a flight. Only thing you can do is avoid telling anyone who is on the flight. All planes show on radar and planes with their transponder turned off will just cause air traffic control to send the military to check them out. Even the NATO planes operating around Ukraine can be seen on flightradar. The only exception are military planes flying a combat mission.
The story for the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier (based in Japan) is that it is just heading home from a trip to Singapore:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...ei-2022-08-02/