The U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and its Carrier Strike Group continue conducting sustained operations from the Eastern Mediterranean in support of the so-called Operation Epic Fury, the military campaign driven by the United States amid the current crisis with Iran. According to official sources, the naval units are maintaining 24/7 operational activity, combining air missions with a deterrent presence in the region.
From its current position in the Mediterranean, the Ford-class carrier strike group is seeking to provide an advanced platform for projecting airpower toward the Middle East. As is typical in these contexts involving the deployment of embarked Carrier Air Wing aircraft, they are carrying out patrols, surveillance tasks, and support missions for U.S. operations across different parts of the regional theater, in coordination with other naval and air assets present in the area.
The current deployment of USS Gerald R. Ford is part of a redeployment process that began weeks ago, when the carrier left the Caribbean and headed for the Mediterranean as part of the reinforcement of the U.S. military presence in the Middle East. After transiting the Strait of Gibraltar, the ship continued toward the Eastern Mediterranean, making a logistics stop at Souda Bay, Greece, ahead of its subsequent arrival in Israel between the 26th and 27th, and before fully integrating into the operational posture in the region.
One of the most relevant developments after the United States decided that CVN-78 would be operating under U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) was that it would join operations simultaneously with the Carrier Strike Group centered on USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), underscoring the importance Washington was assigning to the situation with Iran and its nuclear program. This combination of naval forces has enabled the United States to apply military pressure from different maritime axes, expanding its response capacity in the event of a further escalation.
Following that, and within the framework of the U.S. military campaign that began on February 28 under the name Operation Epic Fury, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln ended up becoming the target of Iranian attacks. As detailed on social media by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), it was confirmed that CVN-72 was not hit by missiles launched by the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Beyond this, the U.S. and Israeli military campaign has drawn significant attention in recent days. The conflict has not only taken shape as one of the most significant operations in years, but certain unprecedented events have also shown that the situation in the Middle East has brought a display of capabilities never seen before.
On the one hand, during the early hours of yesterday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that an Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-35I “Adir” shot down an Iranian Air Force Yak-130 advanced trainer and light attack aircraft—an event that marked the first recorded air-to-air shootdown of a manned aircraft by an Israeli F-35.
Finally, hours later, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine attacked and sank, with torpedoes, an Iranian Navy frigate identified as IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean, marking an unprecedented event in the service’s history.
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