February 17, 2026, 6:02 pm
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), along with its escorts and embarked Carrier Air Wing 8, has been redirected from its current operations in the Caribbean to the Middle East as part of a broader U.S. naval reinforcement in the region.
Operating in Caribbean waters in recent months, the Ford is now expected to link up with the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to strengthen American maritime posture amid rising tensions.
The strike group originally deployed in June and was later shifted from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, where it had been supporting U.S. Southern Command missions since mid-November.
According to reports, the carrier was already on station in early January when U.S. forces conducted an overnight raid in Caracas that resulted in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with aircraft from the Ford providing operational support.
Ford’s crew received word of the revised deployment orders on Thursday, February 13. The ship’s company had been expecting to head back to homeport in about two weeks, but the new tasking will extend the mission significantly—potentially making it one of the lengthier deployments in recent U.S. naval history.
We have received a lot of comments regarding Iran’s high-speed anti-ship ballistic missile threat in our last video titled ‘How much damage can USS Gerald R. Ford inflict on Iran in 24 hrs ? ‘ There are concerns that the super-carrier could be at risk.
While concerns are natural and any rival must not be taken casually, US Navy has a weapon to counter this scenario.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how SM-6 nullifies Iran’s high-speed anti-ship ballistic missile threat ?
#defenseupdates #ussgeraldrford #usiranconflict
Chapters:
0:00 TITLE
00:11 INTRODUCTION
01:54 SPONSORSHIP – NordVPN
02:26 IRANIAN HIGH SPEED ANTI SHIP BALLISTIC MISSILES
04:46 SM-6 OVERVIEW
07:18 OPERATIONAL CAPABILITIES OF SM-6
09:55 ANALYSIS
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