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2w ago

Navy Chief Plans Carrier‑Free Package for SOUTHCOM Counter‑Drug Fight

The shift prioritizes smaller Navy–Coast Guard teams tailored for interdiction rather than high‑end power projection.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 213, lands on the flight deck of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), while operating in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 2, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo)
150903-N-SS390-354 FALLON, Nev. (Sept. 3, 2015) F-35C Lightning IIs, assigned to the Grim Reapers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101, and an F/A-18E/F Super Hornets assigned to the Naval Aviation Warfighter Development Center (NAWDC) fly over Naval Air Station Fallon's (NASF) Range Training Complex. VFA 101, based out of Eglin Air Force Base, is conducting an F-35C cross-country visit to NASF. The purpose is to begin integration of F-35C with the Fallon Range Training Complex and work with NAWDC to refine tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) of F-35C as it integrates into the carrier air wing. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Darin Russell/Released)

Overview

  • Adm. Daryl Caudle said the Navy does not need aircraft carriers for U.S. Southern Command’s maritime interdiction mission and is crafting an enduring package without them.
  • The plan returns carriers to deterrence and strike theaters and leans on destroyers, amphibious ships, and littoral combat ships paired with Coast Guard law‑enforcement teams that can make arrests at sea.
  • The Gerald R. Ford strike group spent more than 100 days in the Caribbean under Operation Southern Spear, contributing to an extended cruise that nears a post‑Vietnam deployment record.
  • Since August 2025, the Navy has surged tailored formations into the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, and U.S. forces have carried out 47 lethal strikes on suspected drug boats with 160 reported dead.
  • Officials have not disclosed how they choose between a strike and an interdiction, and a senior Pentagon homeland defense official said interdiction is necessary but insufficient for deterrence, even as the Coast Guard continues seizures such as a 6,570‑pound cocaine offload on March 19 in Port Everglades.