The United States will send a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East, CBS News reported citing multiple sources.
The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier, the flagship of the Bush Carrier Strike Group, will deploy to U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility, the major combatant command overseeing U.S. operations against Iran.
The Bush Carrier Strike Group completed training earlier this month that certifies it is ready to deploy in major combat operations.
While peace talks between Washington and Tehran are still in the early stages of negotiations, U.S. officials said the carrier could potentially join the ongoing operations against Iran.
The USS Ross, a guided missile destroyer assigned to the carrier strike group, deployed from Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday. The USS Donald Cook and USS Mason, also guided missile destroyers, both left Florida this week heading to join Operation Epic Fury. The Bush Carrier Strike Group last deployed in 2022, returning to its homeport in Norfolk in August 2023.
Two carrier strike groups, led by the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Abraham Lincoln, have been in the Middle East for the first few weeks of the operation against Iran, until the Ford suffered a fire aboard. Earlier this week, it arrived at a naval port in Souda Bay in Crete for repairs.
The Ford has been deployed since last June. The carrier strike group was directed to the Caribbean last November for operations against Venezuela before getting the order earlier this year to deploy to the Middle East.
