USS Ford aircraft carrier to be heading home after record-breaking deployment

The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, will be heading home following a record-setting deployment of more than 300 days that included participating in the war against Iran and the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, two US officials said, Report informs via AP.

The Ford will be leaving the Middle East in the coming days and returning to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements. The Washington Post reported the development earlier.

The arrival of the USS George H.W. Bush to the region last week meant three American aircraft carriers were deployed to the Middle East - a number not seen since 2003 - during a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war. USS Abraham Lincoln has also been in the region since January as tensions with Tehran ramped up.

This month, the Ford broke the US record for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, a nearly 10-month span after leaving Naval Station Norfolk in June.

The ship's 295th day at sea surpassed the previous longest deployment by an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years, when the Lincoln was sent out for 294 days in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by US Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the US Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization.