U.S. Navy Carrier Operations

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy's newest aircraft carrier, has completed what U.S. outlets report as the longest carrier deployment since the Vietnam War — a nearly 10-month cruise that set a post-Vietnam record. The deployment, which unfolded across multiple theaters, included sustained operations tied to a U.S. military raid in Venezuela and missions related to the Iran-linked conflict, underscoring the ship's use as a multi-theater power-projection asset far from home ports.