US President Donald Trump has announced the redeployment of the USS Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean to boost Washington’s campaign against drug cartels.
The move means there is not a single US aircraft carrier deployed in both Europe and the Middle East.
An Associated Press report said the decision comes at a time when a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been threatened by new strikes in Gaza.
It added there had been five carrier deployments to the Middle East since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, including two carriers in the region at multiple points this year and last.
“The change is especially stark after the US joined Israeli strikes on Iran in June and has engaged in some of the most intense combat operations since the Second World War against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea,” said the report.
The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet based in Juffair failed to issue a comment due to the ongoing government shutdown.
The GDN reported in August that the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz returned for a scheduled port call at the Khalifa Bin Salman Port with more than 5,000 crew members and a fleet of F-18 super jets and attack helicopters.
The warship was deployed amidst the conflict between Israel and Iran, and also to maintain pressure on Houthi militias.
It replaced another US aircraft carrier, Carl Vinson, to support Middle East operations.
The USS Nimitz was heading home from the South China Sea to the West Coast before being decommissioned.
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