Overview
- USS Gerald R. Ford left the Red Sea, transited the Suez Canal last week, and is now in the Mediterranean en route to Naval Station Norfolk after roughly 314 days at sea.
- Two U.S. carrier strike groups — USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush — are operating together in the Arabian Sea under Central Command.
- CENTCOM said Project Freedom will draw on guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned systems, and 15,000 service members.
- The Wall Street Journal reported the plan does not currently include Navy warship escorts for merchant ships, and key mechanics of how transits will be protected remain unclear.
- The amphibious ships USS Boxer and USS Comstock are now in the Indian Ocean with Marines embarked, while USS Nimitz has entered the South Atlantic following a Strait of Magellan transit.