Overview
- CENTCOM says more than 20 U.S. warships, including two carrier strike groups, are enforcing a blockade of Iranian-linked shipping, with 61 commercial vessels redirected and at least four stopped after attempts to run it.
- The carrier George H.W. Bush is flying operations in the Arabian Sea with Carrier Air Wing 7’s Super Hornets, E-2D Hawkeyes, and MH-60 Seahawks, and without F-35C jets.
- The Gerald R. Ford strike group has cleared the Strait of Gibraltar westbound and is steaming for Norfolk after roughly 322 days deployed.
- The forward-deployed carrier George Washington left Yokosuka for a short post-maintenance underway likely focused on sea trials that test high-speed maneuvers, anchoring, combat systems, and crew readiness.
- Carrier Air Wing 5 is running 10 days of field carrier landing practice on Iwo Jima to qualify pilots for deck landings, and Marines with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group are expected to join CENTCOM soon though arrival has not been announced.