Illustrative image. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael B. Zingaro/Released)
The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier is sailing around the African continent and is set to join a growing naval force in the Arabian Sea amid a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, USNI News reported on April 13.
According to the news service, the carrier and its strike group – which includes the guided-missile destroyers USS Donald Cook, USS Mason and USS Ross – are currently operating off the coast of Namibia.
The Carrier Air Wing Seven is embarked aboard the Bush with around 80 warplanes, including F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets, EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets and E-2C Hawkeye tactical airborne early warning aircraft.
The Bush did not sail through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea, a typical transit for East Coast-based carriers headed to the Middle East. The carrier and its strike group are instead sailing around Africa, two defense officials told USNI News.
“The path around Africa allows the carrier and its escorts to avoid transiting the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb, which were both hubs of activity for the Houthis in their drone and missile attacks on U.S. and commercial shipping in 2024 and 2025,” the service said in its report.
The Bush transit around Africa comes amid a temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran that is set to end in around a week.
Following a failed round of talks in Pakistan, the U.S. initiates a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on orders from President Donald Trump.
In the Arabian Sea, the Bush will be joining the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group, in addition to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) embarked on the aircraft-carrying USS Tripoli and two other amphibious assault ships.
A second MEU, the 11th, is also sailing towards the Arabian Sea, aboard three more amphibious assault ships, including the aircraft-carrying USS Boxer.
This naval build up shows that the U.S. is preparing not just to resume operations against Iran, but also to do so on a much larger scale than before.
Several recent reports indicate that the U.S. and Iran will be holding a second round of talks in Pakistan before the end of the ceasefire. Unless a major breakthrough is achieved, the war will likely resume, very possibly with American boosts on the soil of the Islamic Republic.
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usa rules the oceans…russia can’t even control the black sea..heheheh
i want nato to kick russia out of crimea. what the russians did to armenia, iran, and venezuela is being punished by the dismemberment of the country. russia must suffer such a catastrophe that all fleed alawites will be forcibly mobilized into the russian army to certain death. without any chance of victory, just to postpone the complete destruction of moscow for a few days. the border between russia and nato must be on the urals.you don’t know that kurdistan should be part of israel,
if russia and the alawites had not betrayed syria, israel would never in this world dare to attack iran. that’s why i want latakia and tartus to turn into an uninhabited desert in which there will no longer be a single alawite baby, woman, or old man. i want a nato attack on russia and for putler to be removed and replaced with someone who will force the alawites into the trenches. that russia will have forced mobilization and people with combat experience will have priority.
iran needs to get sea-going capacity, this and nukes
it’s taco tuesday.
the bush carrier afraid of getting bush whacked by ansar allah.