The Navy says the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson has finished three months of service in the Middle East and is now operating in the Indian Ocean, where it will spend an unspecified amount of time before heading home to San Diego.
The flattop has been on deployment since Nov. 18, when it left North Island to patrol the Indo-Pacific. President Donald Trump diverted the ship to the Arabian Sea in March to help combat missile and drone attacks Iran-backed Houthi rebels were launching on commercial and military shipping.
The ship was recently relieved of duty by a sister carrier, the USS Nimitz.
Warships typically make several port calls when they’re returning home, so it’s unclear when the Vinson will reach San Diego.
But it will likely be in August. By then, the ship will have been deployed for about nine months, which is on the long side for carriers.
Future deployments could be even longer.
The Navy announced recently announced that the $11.4 billion USS John F. Kennedy, a new carrier that was supposed to begin service this month, won’t be ready until 2027.
And it appears that one of the Navy’s 11 existing carriers will be decommissioned by then. That means that the other 10 flattops — three which are based in San Diego — could be deployed for longer periods.