The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush was in the Indian Ocean as of Tuesday, according to photos posted on a US Defense Department website, meaning the US Navy could soon have dozens of more combat aircraft in the region if a ceasefire ends or to help enforce a blockade of Iranian ports.
The exact position of the Bush and its more than 75 aircraft was not revealed, but US Rep. Maggie Goodlander, a New Hampshire Democrat who is on the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Wednesday that a third carrier was heading to the Middle East as the Trump administration adds to forces in the region.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Council’s US military tracking website said the Bush and its strike group were steaming around the southern tip of Africa on April 17 as Washington brings more naval forces to bear amid its blockade of Iranian ports.
The Bush strike group departed Norfolk, Virginia, on March 31 for what the Navy said was a regularly scheduled deployment.
Already in the Middle East region are the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been operating in the northern Indian Ocean near Iran since the conflict started, and the USS Gerald R. Ford, which is back in the Red Sea after spending time at Mediterranean ports for repairs and replenishment from late March to early April.
The Atlantic Council tracking site says if the Bush becomes involved in the Iran war, three of the US Navy’s four available carriers would be deployed for the conflict.
While the US has 11 carriers in total, maintenance, overhauls and training mean not all are ready for combat at any one time.
The Bush, commissioned in 2009, is the newest of 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in the US fleet. Almost 1,000 feet long and displacing more than 100,000 tons, it is powered by two nuclear reactors with more than 5,500 sailors and air crew aboard.
CNN has asked US Central Command for comment on the status of the Bush.