United States Navy aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush
The USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier strike group was deployed to the Middle East, becoming the third North American aircraft carrier operating in the region, after the USS Abraham Lincoln and the super-aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, which are already in the region.
According to ol, which cites a statement from the United States Navy, the aircraft carrier’s combat group USS George H.W. Bush departed on Tuesday from the Norfolk Naval Station, in the state of Virginia, bound for the Middle East.
The WSJ had initially reported in February that the carrier was conducting training exercises off the coast of Virginia and “could eventually accelerate those exercises” to join the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East.
At the time, it ended up being the super-aircraft carrier USS Gerald R.Ford, the flagship of the North American fleet, the , after having concluded related to the North American mission in Venezuela aimed at capturing President Nicolás Maduro.
The WSJ report cites unidentified US officials, according to whom the US could have, simultaneously, three aircraft carriers in the Middle East. The Lincoln is currently operating in the Arabian Sea, while the Ford is temporarily docked in Croatia for repairsfollowing a fire.
The Bush, the tenth and last aircraft carrier of the classe Nimitzshould arrive in the Middle East within a few weeks. According to , the attack group, which includes more than 5,000 soldiersincludes the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Ross, USS Donald Cook and USS Mason, as well as the Ala Aérea 7composed of nine aircraft squadrons.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, is currently being repaired in Croatiaafter a non-combat related fire broke out in the main laundry room on March 12th. The fire injured three sailorsone of whom had to be transported by helicopter to receive medical assistance.
The Ford was operating in the Red Sea in support of Operation Epic Fury and was en route to set the maritime mobilization record longest in the U.S. Navy, approaching the 11-month mark in operation.
The current record belongs to USS Midwaywho remained on a mission at sea during 332 days during the Vietnam War.
