Why the US sent its most advanced aircraft carrier to the Caribbean and what it can do

The U.S. Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, has left the Mediterranean and is now on its way to the Caribbean, an unusual move that expands on an already significant military buildup in the region.

Officially, the Pentagon says the deployment supports President Donald Trump’s directive to “dismantle transnational criminal organizations and counter narco-terrorism.”

The Ford’s redeployment adds a massive amount of American firepower to the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility, where roughly 10,000 personnel are already forward-deployed. That force includes Air Force B-1 and B-52 bombers, Marine F-35Bs, and MQ-9 Reaper drones now operating from Puerto Rico, as well as the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Uni