The US aircraft carriers USS George HW Bush (CVN-77) and USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) will exercise with aircraft carriers from France, Italy and the United Kingdom as part of a joint Europe-wide operation intended to demonstrate NATO interoperability. the Pentagon announced Thursday. The two US aircraft strike groups, their embarked air wings and escorts will operate in the North Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea alongside the UK Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08), the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH 550) and the French FS Charles de Gaulle (R 91), Sabrina Singh, Pentagon deputy press secretary, told reporters Thursday. “These operations present an opportunity for allied nations to coordinate critical combat power across the Euro-Atlantic region while demonstrating NATO’s cohesion and interoperability,” Singh said. “It is also an opportunity to test alliance cooperation and practice deterrence and defense of NATO’s perceptions across the alliance’s geographies, operational sectors and functional areas.” Singh referred questions about joint ventures to the US European Administration. The George HW Bush CSG has been operating in the Mediterranean since August, when it replaced the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group. Bush and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) operated together briefly before Truman returned home to Norfolk, Virginia, the first time two U.S. aircraft carriers had been together in the Mediterranean in several years. During his development, Truman practiced with Charles de Gaulle and Cavour. As of Thursday afternoon, the Ford was off Portsmouth, England, according to local ship watchers. USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier off Portsmouth, England in the Solent – November 17, 2022 #ussgeraldrford #cvn78 SRC: [email protected] pic.twitter.com/QImUpHfXqT — WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) November 17, 2022 Charles de Gaulle left France on Nov. 15 as part of the Antares mission, according to a French news release. The mission includes 3,000 employees from France and partners. As part of the Antares mission, the French carrier will operate with ships from the Greek, Italian and US navies, according to the announcement. Queen Elizabeth has largely taken over operations for HMS Prince of Wales (R09), which is undergoing repairs to its propulsion system, USNI News previously reported. Queen Elizabeth intervened in some of the Prince of Wales’s port visits, including to New York, before she was sent on a planned deployment to the Atlantic.
