Discover the deadliest US aircraft carrier sent to the Caribbean

The warship, described by the US Navy as “the world’s most capable, adaptable and lethal combat platform,” is 337 meters long, has two nuclear propulsion reactors and can reach speeds of 55 kilometers per hour.

The aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford is part of the eponymous strike group, which includes, in addition to the capital ship, three destroyers (USS Mahan, USS Bainbridge, and USS Winston Churchill) and a squadron of F-18 fighter jets and MH-60 combat helicopters. These are in addition to military assets already being sent to the Caribbean, including other destroyers, submarines, amphibious landing craft, and F-35 fighter jets sent to Puerto Rico.

The warship has two nuclear reactors for propulsion and is equipped with a close-in defense weapon system (CIWS) and short- and intermediate-range missiles such as the Sea Sparrow Advanced Missile and the Rolling Airframe Missile. The 40-meter-tall, 337-meter-long aircraft carrier has a 78-meter-wide flight deck, can carry 75 aircraft, and can reach speeds of up to 55 km/h.

Built by Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipyard, the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford began construction on November 9, 2009, but did not enter service with the Navy until 2017. Named on November 9, 2013, the aircraft carrier was named in honor of former President Gerald Ford, as the former president’s daughter, Susan Ford Bales, sponsored its construction.

“In support of the President’s directives to dismantle transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and combat narco-terrorism in defense of the homeland, the Secretary of the Army has commanded the Gerald R. The USSOUTHCOM Area of ​​Responsibility will strengthen the United States’ ability to detect, monitor, and dismantle illicit activities and actors that undermine the security and prosperity of the U.S. homeland and our nation’s security in the Western Hemisphere, and these forces will strengthen and expand existing capabilities to disrupt drug trafficking and dismantle OCTs. ”

As of last month, the U.S. military already had about 10,000 troops in the Caribbean, half on eight warships and half stationed in Puerto Rico. At the time, a Pentagon spokesperson did not say when the strike group would be sent to the area or what its location would be.

Hours after President Donald Trump said at the White House that he intended to authorize ground operations against groups linked to international drug trafficking, a U.S. military bombing sank a 10th boat allegedly involved in drug trafficking in September, raising the death toll from those operations to 43. In the first days of his presidency, he equated groups associated with international drug trafficking with terrorist organizations. Colombia and Venezuela recently denounced President Trump’s statements and orders in the region as threats of invasion.

“If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs across the hemisphere, we will treat you the same way we treat al-Qaeda: day and night, we will map your networks, track your men, hunt them down and kill them,” Hegseth wrote in a post after confirming the sinking of a ship believed to belong to the Venezuelan organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).

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In another military development at the time, the United States announced military exercises with Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago is a Caribbean country separated from Venezuela only by the Gulf of Paria, which is just over 10 kilometers wide. The destroyer USS Gravely entered Port of Spain on Sunday and is expected to remain in operation until October 30th.

The 9,200-ton, 155-meter-long, 20-meter-wide destroyer can accommodate around 300 officers, in addition to two hangars for MH-60 Seahawk helicopters, and is equipped with a complex set of sensors, radar, software, and automatic missile launchers, allowing it to simultaneously detect and neutralize threats from the air, sea, and underground. The ship is also equipped with Tomahawk missiles for long-range attacks.

In direct opposition to President Nicolás Maduro’s government, the White House has fueled hostile rhetoric, including appointing a pro-Chavista leader to head the Cartel de los Soles and offering a reward for information leading to his arrest. At a recent press conference, President Trump acknowledged that he had authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations within the country.

As tensions rise, Venezuela likens the US actions to a siege. The country’s military has been on alert since August, when the situation began to escalate in the region, and the government launched a wide-ranging campaign to recruit reservists. Just Thursday, as President Trump spoke again about land-based actions, the military conducted 73 military exercises at coastal positions.

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President Maduro has oscillated between conciliatory gestures and bellicose statements in the face of U.S. actions. At an event with pro-government trade unionists last month, the Chavez leader appealed for de-escalation in English:

— Peace, yes peace, forever peace, forever no more crazy wars! (Peace, yes peace, forever, peace forever. No crazy wars.) President Maduro said before resuming his speech in Spanish.

Nevertheless, President Maduro also referred to Caracas’ military capabilities and singled out US adversaries China and Russia as allies in the contest for geopolitical supremacy. The president had already said on Wednesday that Venezuela’s military had 5,000 Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles ready for use in case the threat escalated further.