The world's largest and most expensive aircraft carrier has arrived in the Caribbean.
U.S. Southern Command announced Sunday that the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group had made its way into the Caribbean Sea, with 4,000 sailors and "dozens" of military aircraft aboard the lead ship.
The strike group's deployment comes as the Trump administration continues to increase the pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who was charged by U.S. prosecutors in 2020 with narco-terrorism and other crimes. In August, the Trump administration upped the reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest or conviction to $50 million.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has recently carried out 20 strikes on boats near the country that American officials say were smuggling drugs, though the Trump administration has yet to publicly provide any evidence for those claims, and lawmakers and legal experts have indicated the strikes are likely illegal under U.S. and international law.
Last week, Trump said "I've sort of made up my mind" on next steps for U.S. involvement in Venezuela, but he gave no further details, and other administration officials have shared little about what they are planning in the South American nation.
Still, the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford signals continued escalation by the U.S. Here's what to know about the ship and its role in the Caribbean.
The Ford only recently began operations
The USS Gerald R. Ford is a relatively new addition to the Navy's fleet.
The keel of the carrier was laid in 2009, a tradition marking the beginning of a new ship's construction, and the Ford was officially commissioned in 2017.
It is named for the 38th U.S. President Gerald Ford, a Navy veteran who served on the USS Monterey light aircraft carrier during World War II.
It wasn't until 2023 that the Ford left port on its first combat deployment, initially to participate in exercises with NATO allies. But the carrier's deployment was extended by more than two months after war broke out between Hamas and Israel, and the Ford was sent to the Mediterranean Sea to support Israel and prevent the conflict from escalating.
The innovative ship's pricy construction was marred by delays
The Ford is the inaugural ship of a new class of U.S. aircraft carriers that will replace the current Nimitz-class carriers, the first of which launched from a Newport News, Va., shipyard in 1972.
Ford-class carriers possess 23 technological advancements for aircraft carriers, according to the Navy, including a new electromagnetic system for launching aircraft that replaces steam-powered catapults. The Ford-class ships are also expected to be able to operate with a crew 20% smaller than that of a Nimitz-class carrier.
But the military struggled to implement some of that new technology on the Ford, resulting in construction delays.
The Navy says the tab for building the Ford, the most advanced U.S. aircraft carrier in existence, topped $13 billion.
Bryan Clark, a former naval officer with the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, told NPR last year that Nimitz-class carriers cost a little over half that. "So in retrospect, that extra investment was probably not worth it," he said.
The delivery of the next Ford-class aircraft carrier — which will be known as the USS John F. Kennedy — was recently delayed by two years and is now not expected until early 2027.
The Ford's role in the Caribbean
Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. would conduct Operation Southern Spear, a mission he said was to eliminate "narco-terrorists" and secure "our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people."
The massive build-up of American military might in the region, including the arrival of the Ford, is a part of that effort.
Beyond the aircraft carrier itself, the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group contains nine carrier airwing squadrons, two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers and an integrated air and missile defense command ship.
The strike group's arrival adds to American military assets that had already been in the region, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and an embarked marine expeditionary unit.
All told, there are now nearly a dozen Navy ships and roughly 12,000 sailors and Marines in the area, according to The Associated Press.
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