By Steve Walsh The world's largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford seen in the North Sea on Sept. 24, 2025. Jonathan Klein/AFP via Getty Images hide caption After moving to the Red Sea to participate in operations against Iran, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the U.S.' newest and largest aircraft carrier, is approaching a record breaking deployment. The Ford is on track to exceed the longest deployment of any aircraft carrier since the end of the Vietnam war. The USS Nimitz was kept at sea for 321 days before returning in 2021, but that deployment came during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and was designed as a way to quarantine ships by keeping them at sea. As of Tuesday, the Ford was on the 266th day of its current deployment, and it will be at least several more weeks before it returns. Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. James Kilby confirmed to lawmakers recently that the Navy did not expect the carrier to return until May. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen.…