Hung Cao Orders USS Lincoln Home as 3,540km Supply Line Exposes Iran War Strain

1 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 19

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the USS Abraham Lincoln will soon return home after reports of poor morale, supply shortages and maintenance problems during its record-breaking deployment.
The carrier’s strain has been tied to logistics: damage to the US naval base in Bahrain forced resupply from Diego Garcia, about 3,540km away from carriers operating near Iran.
USS George Washington has already left the western Pacific for the Middle East to replace Lincoln, leaving no US aircraft carrier in that region and raising new questions about deterrence elsewhere.
Democrats called the conditions part of a broader wartime pattern, while experts said the Iran campaign is exposing limits in a Navy built around a small number of high-end carriers.
Nearly six months into a stalemated war, the Lincoln episode has widened scrutiny of whether a carrier-heavy US posture can sustain a prolonged drone- and blockade-driven conflict with Iran.