USS Gerald R Ford Aircraft carrier heads to the Caribbean as US military buildup continues | World News
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered USS Gerald R Ford to sail to the Caribbean last week. (Photo: X/ Daniel Ferro)
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford on Tuesday left the Mediterranean Sea and is on its way into the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft carrier, and the lead ship of its class, is sailing to Latin America, 11 days after the Pentagon announced the strike group would move to the region.
USS Gerald R Ford
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered USS Gerald R Ford to sail to the Caribbean as part of the Trump adminration’s pressure campaign targeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros.
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Commissioned in 2017, as the first of its class, USS Gerald R Ford, which is named after Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States, the aircraft carrier is often described as “the most capable, adaptable, and lethal combat platform in the world.”
“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. These forces will enhance and augment exing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs,” Sean Parnell, Pentagon spokesperson, wrote in a post on X last week.
A defense official confirmed to the Associated Press that the Ford and the destroyer USS Bainbridge crossed through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic on Tuesday.
USS GERALD R FORD CVN78 CBG heading west through the STROG this morning #shipsinpics #ships #shipping #shipspotting #naval @air_intel @air_intel @WarshipCam @seawaves_mag #navy pic.twitter.com/QaA7pMhqx3— Daniel Ferro (@Gibdan1) November 4, 2025
The Ford originally deployed with five destroyers, but it’s not clear if all will go to the Caribbean. Two of the other destroyers in the Ford’s strike group, the USS Winston Churchill and the USS Mahan, are in the Mediterranean now, with the Mahan in port at Rota, Spain.
The other two destroyers, the USS Forrest Sherman and the USS Mitchener, are in the Red Sea, the official said.
US military strikes against drug vessels
The Ford’s arrival to the region would mark a major escalation in the buildup of US military forces in the region as the Trump adminration strikes boats accused of carrying drugs.
Since September, the US military has carried out at least 15 strikes, in both the Caribbean and Pacific, targeting alleged drug-trafficking vessels, resulting in 64 deaths.
