The world’s largest plane provider USS Gerald R. Ford seen within the North Sea throughout NATO Neptune Strike 2025 train on September 24, 2025 within the North Sea.
Jonathan Klein | Afp | Getty Pictures
President Donald Trump dramatically escalated a U.S. navy buildup within the Caribbean on Friday by deploying the Gerald Ford plane provider group to Latin America, a present of pressure that far exceeds any previous counter-narcotics want and represents Washington’s most muscular transfer but within the Latin America area.
“The improved U.S. pressure presence within the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capability to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and actions that compromise the security and prosperity of the US homeland and our safety within the Western Hemisphere,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell posted on X.
He didn’t specify when the provider could be shifting to the area, however as of some days in the past, the provider was touring by way of the Strait of Gibraltar and in Europe.
The deployment is a part of Trump’s navy buildup within the Caribbean, which incorporates eight extra warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 plane. It’s prone to increase concern within the area in regards to the Trump administration’s intent.
The U.S. navy has carried out 10 strikes in opposition to alleged drug vessels, principally within the Caribbean, since early September, killing about 40 individuals. Whereas the Pentagon has not given a lot info, it has mentioned a few of these killed are Venezuelan.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly alleged that the U.S. is hoping to drive him from energy.
Washington in August doubled its reward for info resulting in Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, accusing him of hyperlinks to drug trafficking and legal teams that Maduro denies.
The meeting of navy firepower far outstrips any possible requirement by the U.S. navy to strike particular person drug targets on land or at sea.
The Ford, which was commissioned in 2017, is the US’ latest plane provider and the world’s largest, with greater than 5,000 sailors aboard.
The provider, which features a nuclear reactor, can maintain greater than 75 navy plane, together with fighter plane just like the F-18 Tremendous Hornet jets and the E-2 Hawkeye, which might act as an early warning system.
It has an arsenal of missiles, just like the Developed Sea Sparrow Missile, that are medium-range, surface-to-air missiles used to counter drones and plane.
