Feb 25, 2026 - World

Middle East-bound Ford aircraft carrier could break records

Colin Demarest

Blurred jet aircraft landing on an aircraft carrier with the number 78 visible on the tower. Workers and equipment are on the deck under a cloudy sky. — An EA-18G Growler lands on the deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford in January. Photo: Tajh Payne/DVIDS

The U.S. Navy's Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier left Virginia in June. It has since traveled to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean and is now arriving in the greater Middle East as President Trump threatens to pummel Iran.

Why it matters: The world's largest warship has been deployed for some eight months. That raises maintenance and morale concerns.

Should it stay out until mid-April, it will break a post-Vietnam record, according to USNI News and its internal database.

Friction point: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle in January told reporters he would push back on further extensions of the Ford "because they do have significant impact."

"People want to have some type of certainty they're going to do a seven-month deployment," he said.
"When it goes past that? That disrupts lives. It disrupts things: funerals that were planned, marriages that were planned, babies that were planned."
The CNO's office did not immediately respond to Axios inquiries regarding how Caudle is advising Trump.

The other side: The president this month said the Ford was needed "in case we don't make a deal" with Tehran.

Zoom out: An enormous amount of American firepower is coalescing in the Middle East. (It's the largest buildup inside Central Command in years.)

Included are A-10, F-15, F-16, F-22 and F-35 warplanes, plus surveillance, communications, refueling and transport aircraft.
Warships in the area are also equipped with hundreds of Tomahawk missiles, a Trump 2.0 favorite.

Flashback: Both the Harry S. Truman and Carl Vinson aircraft carriers were in the Middle East last year, dealing with Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The U.S. military can't quit the Middle East

Trump's fight against the Houthis, by the numbers

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Middle East-bound Ford aircraft carrier could break records

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