US sends Ford aircraft carrier, fresh off Venezuela operations, to the Middle East

The Navy’s largest aircraft carrier is heading to the Middle East. The USS Gerald R. Ford will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and other forces already in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility as part of the ongoing military buildup in the region. 

The Ford, the newest and biggest of the Navy’s carriers, is currently in the Caribbean, part of the large naval force that has been sitting in those waters for months as part of Operation Southern Spear. The carrier will now join the Lincoln, which was ordered to the Middle East last month and is currently operating in the region. 

Several outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reported on the Ford’s new orders, citing several U.S. officials. Task & Purpose asked the Department of Defense about the orders and it said it had nothing to add. It’s not clear what escort ships will be accompanying the Ford, but the carrier itself will be bringing its air wing, which includes four squadrons of F/A-18 fighters and one squadron of E/A-18G strike fighters.

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The Ford is expected to take several weeks to arrive in the Middle East. President Donald Trump said the second carrier would leave “soon.” 

“In case we don’t make a deal, we’ll need it,” Trump told reporters on Friday.

The United States is currently in negotiations with Iranian officials in Geneva, with Oman serving as a mediator. The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action in support of anti-government protesters, after the Iranian state used lethal force to stop demonstrations. Trump has also warned of more strikes, following last summer’s attack on three Iranian nuclear facilities. 

Meanwhile the United States has been building up its military power around the Middle East for weeks ahead of a potential fight with Iran. Last month F-15s with the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, which had previously taken out Iranian drones and missiles in 2024, returned to the region. The Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing, which had forward deployed F-35s to Puerto Rico ahead of the attack on Venezuela, has sent fighters to CENTCOM, after a stop in Europe. Additionally ground forces were spotted putting anti-air missile systems on mobile platforms at the al-Udeid air base in Qatar, a base targeted in a retaliatory strike after the U.S. bombed Iran in June. 

The Ford and its carrier group were previously sent to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in October 2023, after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza War, alongside the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Several of its escort ships went to the Red Sea as fighting with Houthis in Yemen escalated. The carrier left the region in January 2024 and returned to its homeport. 

The Ford was on deployment to the Mediterranean this past fall when it was ordered to join the armada of Navy ships in the Caribbean. Those ships, as well as several fighter jets, were deployed on what the Pentagon has called a counter-narcotics mission. The U.S. has bombed dozens of small ships that it claims are trafficking drugs, killing more than 100 people, although the Navy force has sat that out. The Ford and other ships did take part in January’s attack on Venezuela, which saw the capture and extradition of Venezuela’s president. 

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