The world’s largest aircraft carrier has returned to the region, while its record-breaking deployment has drawn strong domestic criticism in the United States and has raised serious concerns about the ship’s efficiency and the psychological trauma suffered by its crew.
Publish dateSunday 19 April 2026 - 15:35
Story Code : 351683
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, which is the world’s largest aircraft carrier and was present in the eastern Mediterranean, has passed through the Suez Canal along with the two destroyers USS Mahan and USS Winston S. Churchill and is now operating in the Red Sea. This is news that two American military officials have confirmed.
The ship, which left the region about a month ago and moved out of Iran’s range due to fears of Iranian retaliation, has now returned to the region under a ceasefire.
US officials have claimed that a fire in the laundry area was the reason for the ship’s departure from the region, but Bloomberg recently reported that the problems with the supership go far beyond this simple incident and that there are serious questions about its combat effectiveness.
Concerns about the Ford’s performance range from critical issues to routine problems, according to a new assessment by the Pentagon’s Test Directorate.
Now back in the Red Sea, the Ford joins the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is stationed in the Arabian Sea. A third aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, is also off the coast of South Africa and en route to the region.
The Ford also broke the record for the longest deployment of a US aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War. More than 295 consecutive days at sea, a record previously held by the USS Abraham Lincoln during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which lasted 294 days.
The issue has drawn sharp domestic criticism from the Trump administration over concerns about the condition of the crew.
Senator Tim Kaine, in a statement, called for their return, saying they “should be with their loved ones, not being sent around the world by a president who treats the US armed forces like his personal palace guard.”
The ship, which left the region about a month ago and moved out of Iran’s range due to fears of Iranian retaliation, has now returned to the region under a ceasefire.
US officials have claimed that a fire in the laundry area was the reason for the ship’s departure from the region, but Bloomberg recently reported that the problems with the supership go far beyond this simple incident and that there are serious questions about its combat effectiveness.
Concerns about the Ford’s performance range from critical issues to routine problems, according to a new assessment by the Pentagon’s Test Directorate.
Now back in the Red Sea, the Ford joins the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is stationed in the Arabian Sea. A third aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, is also off the coast of South Africa and en route to the region.
The Ford also broke the record for the longest deployment of a US aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War. More than 295 consecutive days at sea, a record previously held by the USS Abraham Lincoln during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which lasted 294 days.
The issue has drawn sharp domestic criticism from the Trump administration over concerns about the condition of the crew.
Senator Tim Kaine, in a statement, called for their return, saying they “should be with their loved ones, not being sent around the world by a president who treats the US armed forces like his personal palace guard.”
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