The U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) has transited westward through the Strait of Gibraltar toward the Atlantic Ocean, according to naval observers and a source from the U.S. Department of Defense. The flagship, accompanied by Carrier Air Wing 8 and part of its escorts, is heading to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) to join the naval deployment in the Caribbean as part of an expanded military campaign against Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) based in Central and South America.
The decision comes eleven days after the Pentagon announced the redeployment of the strike group to the region. In a post published on October 24 on social media platform X, Department of Defense spokesperson Sean Parnell stated: “The reinforced presence of U.S. forces within USSOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility will strengthen the United States’ ability to detect, monitor, and disrupt actors and illicit activities that compromise the security and prosperity of the homeland, as well as stability in the Western Hemisphere. These forces will enhance and expand existing capabilities to disrupt drug trafficking and to degrade and dismantle TCOs”.
The USS Gerald R. Ford strike group will join units already deployed in the area, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group—composed of USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), USS San Antonio (LPD-17), and USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28)—as well as the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in North Carolina. The naval force in the Caribbean also includes the destroyers USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109), USS Gravely (DDG-107), and USS Stockdale (DDG-106); the cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG-70); the littoral combat ship USS Wichita (LCS-13); three logistics vessels from the Military Sealift Command; a special operations support ship; a nuclear-powered attack submarine; and an advanced squadron of F-35 Lightning II aircraft operating out of Puerto Rico, according to media reports.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had previously stated that the strike group’s redeployment aimed to “support operations intended to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and counter narcoterrorism in the region.” The move follows a presidential directive to intensify actions against drug-trafficking networks in the Western Hemisphere, which Washington has identified as a direct threat to national security and a source of funding for Nicolás Maduro’s government in Venezuela.
Before receiving its new orders, the USS Gerald R. Ford had served as the flagship during NATO’s Neptune Strike exercises and was scheduled to continue a series of maneuvers in Europe. Following the change in destination, the strike group is expected to take roughly a week to arrive in the Caribbean, where it will strengthen maritime surveillance and control operations under the command of USSOUTHCOM.
Since the start of operations on September 1, U.S. forces have carried out 13 targeted strikes against suspected vessels used by drug-trafficking organizations, resulting in 64 deaths, according to official figures reported by U.S. media.
*Images for illustrative purposes.
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