US aircraft carrier returns to the Mediterranean

USS Gerald R. Ford enters the Mediterranean, ending two months of absence of US aircraft carriers in the region.

Images shared on social media on June 15 showed the USS Gerald R. Ford moving through the Strait of Gibraltar to enter the Mediterranean, marking the return of the US supercarrier to the region after a two-month absence.

Escorting the USS Gerald R. Ford are warships of Carrier Strike Group 12, including the destroyer USS Roosevelt, the cruiser USS Normandy and the logistics supply ship USNS Leroy Grumnan, as well as the Italian Navy's missile frigate Alpino.

USS Gerald R. Ford transits the Strait of Gibraltar to enter the Mediterranean on June 15. Photo: Twitter/Maritimegraphy

The US Navy always deploys a permanent aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean to act as a deterrent and protect NATO's eastern flank, amid rising tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border.

The USS Gerald R. Ford is the third aircraft carrier deployed by the US to the Mediterranean since Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine in late February 2022, following the USS Harry S. Truman and USS George H.W. Bush, to reassure US allies in NATO.

The USS George HW Bush entered the area on August 25, 2022, replacing the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier that had been in the area for more than nine months, marking the longest continuous US aircraft carrier deployment in Europe in more than 20 years.

The USS Gerald R. Ford was laid down in 2009, launched four years later and delivered to the US Navy in May 2017. The price of the USS Gerald R. Ford when delivered was $12.6 billion, exceeding the original budget by $2.4 billion, becoming the most expensive warship in the history of the US Navy. This is the world's largest aircraft carrier with a length of 337 m, can carry 75 aircraft and a crew of more than 4,500 people.

Mediterranean region. Graphics: Google Maps

Vu Anh (According to USNI )

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