Coronado-based aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, is currently operating in the Arabian Sea, according to U.S. Central Command (CentCom). The carrier will be conducting air operations while waiting for the USS Gerald R. Ford, another aircraft carrier homeported in Norfolk, Virginia.
It was accompanied by two military supply ships and two U.S. Coast Guard cutters while Carrier Air Wing 9 flew overhead, CentCom posted on X.
The Lincoln departed Coronado at the end of November on an undisclosed mission with no public attention before being sent to the Middle East in late January by President Donald Trump to assist in any potential U.S. operations against Iran.
Iran and the United States are in the middle of negotiations regarding Tehran’s nuclear weapons program and Trump has kept pressure on the middle eastern country, moving military assets like the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Persian Gulf.
A U.S. Navy fighter jet aboard the Lincoln recently shot down an Iranian drone after it “unnecessarily maneuvered toward” the ship aggressively, according to Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CentCom spokesperson. Hawkins said the drone ignored multiple attempts by U.S. forces to de-escalate the situation before being destroyed.
Another Coronado-based aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, should be preparing for a deployment later this year according to Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, who announced this at an annual naval conference in San Diego held this past week.
