At sea for 295 days US aircraft carrier "Gerald R. Ford" sets deployment record
The crew of the USS "Gerald R. Ford" is on continuous duty: with 295 days at sea, the US aircraft carrier has set a record. One US senator criticized it unequivocally - including President Trump.
16.04.2026, 21:02
dpa
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- Since the Vietnam War, no aircraft carrier has been at sea as long as the USS "Gerald R. Ford".
- The crew has been on duty for 295 days. Among other things, it was involved in the arrest of Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and the Iran war.
- Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, meanwhile, is concerned about the psyche of the soldiers - and has nothing good to say about Donald Trump.
The US aircraft carrier USS "Gerald R. Ford" has set a record for the longest deployment since the Vietnam War. The mission of the world's largest aircraft carrier has already lasted almost ten months.
It included participation in a military operation to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as well as in the Iran war. The aircraft carrier was also deployed in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, among other places.
The 295th day at sea on Wednesday (local time) surpassed the previous record for a modern aircraft carrier deployment of 294 days. This had been set in 2020 during the pandemic by the USS "Abraham Lincoln", according to a publication by the private, non-profit military association U.S. Naval Institute.
Fire recently required extensive repairs
The deployment raises questions about the strain on the crew due to the long absence and the additional stress on the ship and equipment. There was recently a fire on board that required extensive repairs.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine explained that the record deployment had a "significant impact" on the mental health and well-being of the crew. The soldiers should be with their families and not "sent around the world by a president who acts like the US military is his palace guard", he said.
The Pentagon gave no indication of how long the USS "Gerald R. Ford" will remain deployed. However, the two most senior naval officers have publicly stated that they expect the ship to be deployed for a total of around eleven months. The ship is therefore expected to return at the end of May.
In 2020 and 2021, the crew of the USS "Nimitz" was deployed for even longer: 341 days. However, the crew did not spend this time permanently on board. At that time, isolation phases ashore were planned due to the coronavirus pandemic.
