US orders deployment of aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford to Caribbean | World News

USS Ford, which was commissioned in 2017, is the United States’ newest aircraft carrier and the world’s largest, with more than 5,000 sailors aboard. (Photo: Reuters)

US President Donald Trump on Friday escalated the military buildup in the Caribbean deploying the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group to Latin America. The deployment comes at a time when the US is stepping up its crackdown on drug trafficking through the Caribbean.

According to The Associated Press, USS Ford is currently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea along with three destroyers. It would likely take several days for the ships to make the journey to South America.
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USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier

Named after the 38th president of the United States, USS Ford is the lead ship of its class and the newest and largest aircraft carrier in the US Navy.

The carrier, which includes a nuclear reactor, can hold more than 75 military aircraft, including fighter aircraft like the F-18 Super Hornet jets and the E-2 Hawkeye, which can act as an early warning system.

It has an arsenal of missiles, like the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, which are medium-range, surface-to-air missiles used to counter drones and aircraft.

“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell posted on X.

Massive US buildup in the Caribbean

The deployment is part of Trump’s military buildup in the Caribbean, which includes eight additional warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft. It is likely to raise concern in the region about the Trump adminration’s intent.

The warships will add to the 10,000 troops and a dozen F-35 fighters which the adminration has sent to the region over the last several weeks.