U.S. President Donald Trump probably thinks that the U.S. military is invincible, not only to his chosen enemies, but also to the ravages of time and wear-and-tear as well. The actual physical condition of the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet, however, is sending a different message. We already have the example of the USS Gerald R Ford, which became notorious for its record-breaking (and also disastrous) 326-day deployment that ended in May. Now we have the USS Abraham Lincoln which has set another record—200 days underway without a port visit. The Lincoln departed San Diego on Nov. 21, 2025, made a one-day port visit to Guam on Dec. 11-12 and has been in the Arabian Sea since early February.
“The USS Abraham Lincoln's exceptionally long deployment reflects a much broader trend that has increasingly affected the U.S. Navy over the past decade, as aircraft carriers are spending more time at sea, deployments are becoming longer and less predictable, and the fleet is under growing strain from simultaneous global commitments,” reported Military Watch Magazine. “At the same time, the number of operational carriers has remained fixed at eleven, while the maintenance burden on the ageing Nimitz class fleet has steadily increased.”
