Published On 4/28/2026
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Last update: 18:57 (Mecca time)
Satellite images taken on April 26 showed the deployment of a number of major American naval vessels in a range extending from the northern Red Sea to the Arabian Sea, in a scene that reflects the continued intense American naval presence near the sensitive navigation routes between the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
According to visual analysis conducted by the Al Jazeera Network’s open source unit, the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford / CVN-78 appeared in the northern Red Sea, while the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln / CVN-72 was spotted in the Arabian Sea, along with the assault landing ship USS Tripoli / LHA-7 in the same maritime range.
Gerald Ford in the Northern Red Sea
The pictures showed the positioning of the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford in the northern Red Sea, after it had moved only about 96 kilometers since its last observed position in the region on April 20, while it is currently about 66 kilometers away from the Defah Al-Wajh Reserve on the Saudi coast.
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In a striking scene, the carrier appeared to be making a sharp turn in the waters of the Red Sea. The pictures alone do not allow for certainty about the reason for the maneuver or the nature of the mission associated with it, but they document the continued movement of the carrier and its escorts in the northern Red Sea, at a time when tensions related to navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab continue.
Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea
In the Arabian Sea, photos showed the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln sailing with at least two destroyers, likely of the Arleigh Burke class, approximately 323 kilometers south of the Iranian coast.
This positioning places the carrier within a maritime zone relatively close to the passages leading to the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, where tensions have escalated over the past weeks related to the US naval blockade of ships heading to or leaving Iranian ports, and repeated Iranian-American announcements about restricting or intercepting some ships in the Strait.
The Abraham Lincoln had entered the US Fifth Fleet’s area of responsibility earlier in 2026, after being redirected from the Pacific to the Middle East as regional tensions escalated.
“Tripoli” near the Omani coast
The images also monitored the American attack landing ship “USS Tripoli” operating only about 117 kilometers from the Omani coast in the Arabian Sea, accompanied by a modern American destroyer of the Arleigh Burke class.
Measurements show that Tripoli is about 140 kilometers from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, indicating the presence of two large American ships in close operational range within the Arabian Sea.
Tripoli differs from conventional nuclear aircraft carriers, but it is an assault landing ship capable of operating aircraft and helicopters and supporting limited amphibious and air operations.
The distribution of these naval vessels reveals that the American deployment extends over a wide maritime theater that begins in the northern Red Sea and ends in the Arabian Sea, near the passages leading to the Strait of Hormuz.
This comes in the context of regional tensions, including continued risks to navigation in the Red Sea, the escalation of the Strait of Hormuz crisis, and American pressure on shipping linked to Iran. Thus, the maps paint a picture of a wide naval deployment that reflects Washington’s desire to maintain a mobile strike force near the most important sea lanes in the region.
