Overview
- Defense officials confirmed the carrier and its strike group were reassigned to U.S. Southern Command to target transnational criminal networks and so‑called narcoterrorism, with the move announced publicly by Assistant Secretary of Defense Sean Parnell.
- CSIS analysts describe the posture off Venezuela as the largest U.S. naval concentration in the region since 1990–91, signaling a major escalation in military presence.
- Reporting details roughly 13 naval units, including multiple destroyers, amphibious ships and a submarine, with more than 700 missiles and about 180 Tomahawks, alongside additional B‑1B bomber deployments to the theater.
- Experts assess the force is optimized for long‑range strikes and not a full ground invasion, noting the carrier air wing and missile inventories align with limited‑kinetic options.
- Caracas escalated its response as lawmakers declared Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister persona non grata over a U.S. warship port call and President Nicolás Maduro suspended gas contracts, while the Ford’s redeployment leaves the Mediterranean without a U.S. carrier.