The U.S. Navy is pulling the world's largest warship, sent to the eastern Mediterranean Sea following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, back to the United States as it reassesses its global force needs, the Sixth Fleet said. from the USA in a statement on Monday (1st).
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford will return to its home port of Norfolk, Virginia, after its first combat deployment, an eight-month cruise that began May 2, the statement said.
The Ford – described by a Navy spokesperson as the “world's most adaptable and lethal combat platform” – was commissioned in 2017 and is the U.S. Navy's newest aircraft carrier and the lead ship in the first new class of Navy aircraft carrier designed over 40 years.
The 100,000-ton warship, with a contingent of F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters on board, arrived off the coast of Israel in the days following the Hamas terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,200 people.
That move was ordered so the Ford could contribute to the U.S. “regional deterrence and defense posture,” Sixth Fleet said.
With the departure of the Ford, the USS Eisenhower is the only US aircraft carrier in the region as tensions rise over Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on commercial ships since October 7, saying they are acting in solidarity with Hamas amid the group's war with Israel.
Over the weekend, U.S. forces, including helicopters operating off Eisenhower, had their first deadly clash with Houthi units, sinking three Houthi boats that had attacked a commercial vessel and firing at U.S. helicopters that came in their wake. aid.
“US Navy helicopters returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats and killing the crews. The fourth boat fled the area,” said a statement from US Central Command.
The US Sixth Fleet said that even with the departure of the Ford, the Navy maintains “broad capabilities both in the Mediterranean and throughout the Middle East.”
The Sixth Fleet statement said the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan, which can carry Marine Corps F-35 stealth fighters, as well as the landing ship USS Carter Hall and the amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde were operating together in the eastern Mediterranean.
U.S. guided missile destroyers, including some that have shot down Houthi drones and missiles in recent weeks, are also in the region, the Sixth Fleet said.
Additionally, the US initiated Operation Prosperity Guardian, a maritime coalition aimed at strengthening security in the southern Red Sea.
“We are collaborating with Allies and partners to strengthen maritime security in the region. The Department of Defense will continue to leverage its collective force posture in the region to dissuade any state or non-state actor from escalating this crisis beyond Gaza,” the Sixth Fleet statement said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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