The USS George H.W. Bush sails in the Indian Ocean on April 23, 2026. Bush entered the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility this week, becoming the third American carrier strike group operating in the Middle East amid a fragile ceasefire with Iran. (U.S. Navy)
NAPLES, Italy — For the first time in more than two decades there are three aircraft carriers, along with hundreds of Navy aircraft and thousands of sailors and Marines, deployed to the Middle East, U.S. officials said Friday.
The arrival of USS George H.W. Bush Thursday in the Indian Ocean concentrates the most U.S. carrier firepower in the region seen in some 23 years, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X. USS Gerald R. Ford is operating in the Red Sea and USS Abraham Lincoln is on station in the Arabian Sea.
The last time the U.S. had three aircraft carriers in the area was during the U.S.-led Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, according to the post.
In that conflict, there were five Navy carriers in the Middle East, according to Steven Wills, an analyst with the Center for Maritime Strategy at the Navy League of the United States.
The arrival of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group means more than 200 Navy aircraft and some 15,000 sailors and Marines are in the Middle East, CENTCOM said.
There also are about 16 destroyers in the region with the addition of USS Mason, USS Ross and USS Donald Cook, which are part of the Bush group. The Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group, which includes three ships, is among other Navy vessels in the area.
CENTCOM did not say whether Bush will join the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea or take up station in another location.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, the flagship of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group, departs Naval Station Norfolk, Va., to begin a scheduled deployment on March 31, 2026. The strike group reached the CENTCOM area of responsibility this week via the Cape of Good Hope, a longer route U.S. officials assessed as reducing exposure to threats in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait. (Derek Cole/U.S. Navy)
USS George H.W. Bush departs Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on March 31, 2026. The strike group includes the guided-missile destroyers USS Ross, USS Donald Cook and USS Mason, along with the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic. (
Jayden Brown/U.S. Navy)
The USS George H.W. Bush is seen in this undated photo. Bush’s arrival in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility this week coincides with a broader U.S. military surge that will bring total personnel in the region above 60,000. (John R. Farren/U.S. Navy)
Sailors prepare for flight operations aboard the USS George H.W. Bush in this undated photo. The Bush is among three U.S. carrier strike groups now in CENTCOM, the largest concentration of American naval forces in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (Juan Serratos Guzman/U.S. Navy)
Bush’s presence in the region follows President Donald Trump’s announcement Thursday that the Navy was carrying out mine countermeasure operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a Truth Social post, Trump also said he had ordered the Navy to “shoot and kill” any boats putting sea mines into the strait, adding there would be no hesitation.
It’s not clear what ships are involved in the mine-clearing operation, but the firepower boost Bush brings could offer additional much-needed protection for Navy vessels as they work to clear the vital oil artery.
Three littoral combat ships homeported in Bahrain have mine countermeasure capabilities. But the ships have limited point defense systems against cruise missiles and no defense against ballistic missiles, Wills said.
On Monday, one of those ships, USS Canberra, was in the Arabian Sea. The location of USS Santa Barbara and USS Tulsa was unclear Friday, as was the status of two Avenger-class minesweepers reportedly sent to the Middle East.
Besides Bush, Ford and Lincoln, the Navy has eight other operational aircraft carriers.
USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Nimitz are conducting training, while USS Carl Vinson is in post-deployment availability, according to a post Tuesday by an open-source intelligence analyst on X.
USS George Washington, USS John C. Stennis, USS Harry S. Truman, USS Ronald Reagan and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower are in various stages of maintenance, according to the analyst.
Nimitz was scheduled to begin its decommissioning this month, but the Navy recently said it will remain in service until at least 2027, when the carrier John F. Kennedy is expected to be commissioned. Kennedy is the second Ford-class carrier.
