USS Gerald R. Ford is Now Operating in the Red Sea

Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is now operating in U.S. Central Command, two defense officials confirmed to USNI News on Friday.

Ford departed the Eastern Mediterranean Sea late last week and is now in the Red Sea after a Suez Canal transit. Destroyers USS Mahan (DDG-72) and USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) also made the transit into the Red Sea. The Associated Press first reported the transit on Friday.

Ford departed Split, Croatia, on April 2, after repairs following a March 12 laundry room fire while the carrier was in the Red Sea.

The carrier broke the post-Cold War deployment record this week. As of Friday, the carrier has been deployed for 297 days. Navy officials have said the carrier could be deployed for 11-months.

Ford joins the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group already in CENTCOM. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), its escorts and the embarked Carrier Air Wing 9 have been operating in the Middle East since January. Big deck amphibious warship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) and amphibious warships USS New Orleans (LPD-18) and USS Rushmore (LSD-47) are also in the Arabian Sea with the Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked.

The move to the Red Sea comes as a third carrier strike group is approaching U.S. Central Command. USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) is transiting around the southern tip of Africa, heading to the Middle East, USNI News reported last week.