USS Gerald R. Ford Diverted From Venezuela Operation, USNI Data Shows

The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), which the Pentagon had ordered to the Caribbean last week, will not be participating in a potential military operation against Venezuela. Recent fleet tracking data shows the carrier strike group is moving west in the Mediterranean, effectively removing it from the immediate theater of operations.
On October 24, 2025, the Pentagon announced it was redirecting the Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG-12) from the Mediterranean to U.S. Southern Command to “bolster U.S. capacity” in its campaign against “narco-terrorists” in Venezuela. The move was seen as a significant escalation and a prelude to imminent land-based strikes.
However, new satellite imagery and naval tracking data from November 1, 2025, locate the USS Gerald R. Ford south of Sicily and northeast of Malta, still well within the U.S. 6th Fleet’s area of operations.
While the carrier itself is out of position, its destroyer escorts are not. On October 31, 2025, several Arleigh Burke-class destroyers associated with the strike group, including the USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79), USS Bulkeley (DDG 84), and USS Roosevelt (DDG 80), were spotted at Naval Station Rota, Spain. These ships are at the mouth of the Mediterranean and can make the transit to the Caribbean in time to support a potential operation.
The absence of the Ford’s carrier air wing, which includes F/A-18 Super Hornets and electronic warfare aircraft, dramatically changes the scope of the U.S. military option. Without the carrier, the U.S. will rely primarily on Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from its destroyers and submarines.
Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) previously estimated the U.S. naval force already in the Caribbean had approximately 115 Tomahawk missiles at the ready. This is significantly less than the initial barrage of the 2011 Libya campaign, where U.S. and UK forces launched 124 Tomahawk missiles in the first 24 hours of Operation Odyssey Dawn to destroy Muammar Gaddafi’s air defenses. This reduction in available firepower suggests any U.S. strike, should it occur, may be more limited than previously anticipated.