WASHINGTON, January 6. /TASS/. The carrier strike group led by American USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier has left the Mediterranean Sea after conducting operations there since June 2023, the US 6th Fleet reported.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin extended the carrier strike group's deployment to the eastern Mediterranean several times due to tensions in the region.

USS Gerald R. Ford was originally scheduled to replace the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, but on October 17, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh announced the decision to keep both ships in the Middle East.