A third U.S. aircraft carrier is moving toward Iran, transforming an already overwhelming campaign into a historic concentration of American naval airpower. As strikes intensify and Iran’s last leverage begins to disappear, the arrival of the USS George H.W. Bush signals a decisive new phase of the conflict. What role will this carrier play — and why does it change everything? Stay with us as we break down the strategy, the firepower, and what happens next.
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#militarystrategy #militaryanalysis #politics #iran #unitedstates #military
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00:00How could things get any worse for Iran right now, as the US pelts the country with airpower the likes
00:05of which it's never seen?
00:07The simple answer, yet more airpower.
00:09Something massive just entered the Mediterranean as the third US aircraft carrier is closing in on Iran.
00:15This is a triple threat as the US goes all in and has a massive surprise in store for the
00:20Iranian regime.
00:21More carriers, more aircraft, and, as you'll find out if you keep watching,
00:25the arrival of the third carrier strips away the last piece of leverage that Iran has.
00:31First, let's focus on the carrier itself.
00:33On March 8, the Jerusalem Post reported that the US has deployed the USS George H. W. Bush, which is
00:40now en route to the Mediterranean Sea.
00:42The carrier will join two others that the US Navy has in the vicinity of Iran, namely the USS Abraham
00:47Lincoln and the USS Gerald R. Ford.
00:50And like the USS Abraham Lincoln, this latest warship is another of America's Nimitz-class supercarriages.
00:56As all of this is happening, the USS Gerald R. Ford has crossed the Suez Canal and has positioned itself
01:02in the Red Sea,
01:02where it is reportedly lying in wait to deal with any attempts by the Houthis in Yemen to join the
01:07war on Iran's side.
01:08As for the USS Abraham Lincoln, it continues to send bombers and fighter jets into Iran's airspace,
01:13where they are wreaking havoc on targets on the ground as the US systematically dismantles every ounce of military might
01:19that Iran thought it had.
01:21Returning to the USS George H. W. Bush, the carrier has been deployed following the completion of a series of
01:27pre-deployment exercises that readied it for the tasks that lie ahead.
01:31USNI News reported on this training, noting that the carrier and its strike group had wrapped up composite unit training,
01:38which is an exercise that all carrier strike groups have to complete before they can be certified for national tasking.
01:43In other words, the training is complete and the carrier is ready for action.
01:47US fleet forces confirmed that with a simple statement that will send shivers through what is left of the spine
01:52of Iran's ruling regime.
01:54The GHWB-CSG repeatedly demonstrated the accurate and rapid launch and recovery of its air assets.
02:01This training was intense, the same statement reveals.
02:05During a 28-day exercise, aircraft from the George H. W. Bush blew 1,586 sorties, making 693 arrested landings
02:14during daylight and another 682 in nighttime conditions.
02:18Carrier Group's commanding officer, Captain Robert Bibot, has said that his team is now ready for whatever lies ahead, stating,
02:24Our job is to ensure that when they need us, whether for air superiority, strike, electronic warfare or presence, we
02:30are ready to deliver immediately and without hesitation.
02:33The US has some very specific roles in mind for the USS George H. W. Bush.
02:38Stick with us as we will be digging into what the carrier will be doing as it moves through the
02:41Mediterranean.
02:42Before that, the supercarrier brings plenty more firepower to a war that has been going in the US's favor from
02:48the moment it began launching strikes against Iran.
02:50Naval technology provides some of the basics, noting that the carrier has a crew of 3,250, which includes 160
02:58officers.
02:59It has been operating as part of the US Navy since May 2009, and it packs a decent amount of
03:04firepower even before we get to the ship's contingent of aircraft.
03:07The carrier is equipped with a Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance System, which covers the sensors, communication systems, weapons
03:14and other electronic systems built into the ship.
03:17Speaking of weapons, the USS George H. W. Bush comes armed with Raytheon GMLS Mark 29 missile launchers, which fire
03:24NATO Sea Sparrow or Evolved Sea Sparrow missile.
03:28Add a pair of Mark 49 guided missile launch systems and four 20mm phalanx close-in weapons systems, which can
03:34fire in bursts of 20 seconds at a rate of 4,500 rounds per minute, and you get a heavy
03:40-hitting ship.
03:41But it's not the carrier itself that Iran has to worry about. It's the aircraft the carrier hosts.
03:46According to naval technology, the USS George H. W. Bush typically carries up to 56 aircraft, along with up to
03:5315 helicopters.
03:54The ship isn't home to F-35s, as those carried by the USS Abraham Lincoln to deliver the stealth capabilities
04:00that the US still needs in Iran to take out isolated pockets of air defenses.
04:03But while the USS George H. W. Bush does bring to the fray are several fourth-generation F-18s, along
04:10with Grumman EA-6B Prowlers and Grumman E-2C Hawkeyes.
04:15Aircraft can also be launched at a rate of 1 every 20 seconds, so it would take the US no
04:19more than a handful of minutes to get the warship's full complement of aircraft into the skies when needed.
04:25So we have another American powerhouse moving in on Iran. But why?
04:29We can tell you what the latest supercarrier isn't going to be doing, destroying Iran's warships.
04:34Frankly, it doesn't need to, as every major ship that Iran had has already been sunk.
04:39According to US President Donald Trump, the US took out 42 of Iran's ships in just three days of strikes
04:44during Operation Epic Fury,
04:46and it's ruined most of Iran's air force and much of its network of command and control centers.
04:50This doesn't necessarily mean that the USS George H. W. Bush won't be piling on the pain inside Iran itself,
04:56as you'll find out in a minute.
04:57But this carrier isn't arriving to do a job that the two other carriers surrounding Iran haven't been able to
05:02do already.
05:03So what is the supercarrier doing in the Mediterranean as it moves closer to Iran?
05:08There are a few potential answers to that question, and they start with one piece of leverage that Iran still
05:13has in its fight with the US, the Strait of Hormuz.
05:17Even as it has been bombed into oblivion, Iran has still been able to deploy small fastboats into the Strait
05:22of Hormuz to cause major problems for global shipping.
05:25For a little context, this particular strait is one of the world's key oil corridors.
05:30According to the BBC, Iran has already said that it will set fire to any ships that attempt to pass
05:34through the Strait of Hormuz while its war with the US and Israel is ongoing,
05:38which is a problem because about 20% of the world's seaborne gas and oil pass through the Strait.
05:44And even though its navy has been nearly destroyed, Iran still has the ability to cause problems in this narrow
05:49waterway with its drones and fastboats.
05:50At only 50km or 31 miles wide at both its entrance and exit, the Strait of Hormuz provides a natural
05:57chokepoint that Iran can leverage to carry out its threats.
06:01What this means is that the 3,000 ships that pass through the strait every month have mostly come to
06:05a standstill.
06:06This amounts to billions of dollars of stalled shipping.
06:09In 2025 alone, about 20 million barrels pass through this one waterway, the BBC says, which adds up to almost
06:16$600 billion of energy trade.
06:18Iran knows that it can't hurt the US military, but it can strike at the pocketbooks of dozens of nations
06:24with this one piece of leverage that it has.
06:26Enter the USS George H.W. Bush.
06:29As Max Afterburner points out in his analysis of the journey of USS George H.W. Bush,
06:34it seems very likely that the supercarrier is going to be something of an escort ship for commercial vessels that
06:39are attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
06:41Iran's main go-to as a naval force is now these fast attack boats, and those boats turn into an
06:47exploding cantaloupe as soon as they get within range of a carrier.
06:50In other words, the boats unleash small hordes of drones when they come close to something they perceive to be
06:55a threat, which is where America's latest carrier deployment comes into play.
06:58So, now that you have that as an issue, having that third carrier strike group there will allow you to
07:03escort commercial shipping through, protect commercial shipping from drones that can launch from these different naval assets, Afterburner explained.
07:10What this means is that the US can now have two of its carriers, pinching Iran, which translates into bombarding
07:16Iran itself with yet more firepower, while one focuses on keeping the Strait of Hormuz clear so that shipping through
07:21the waterway can restart.
07:22This is clever by the US. It is a way for the country to offset criticism about the major oil
07:27price surge, which has resulted in a stock market slump caused by the disruption Iran has caused by exercising its
07:33last piece of leverage.
07:34If the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, then oil will hopefully drop back to below the $100 to $120 per
07:40barrel reported by the BBC on March 9th.
07:43A little firepower-based diplomacy, if you will, that will allow the US to continue its campaign in Iran without
07:48pressure being levied on the oil front.
07:51However, the USS George H.W. Bush can do a lot more than protect the Strait of Hormuz.
07:55But before we dive deeper into that, this is the military show.
07:59And we bring you the full picture, not just the headlines.
08:02Hit subscribe if you haven't already to ensure that you are always ahead of the curve.
08:06Now, one of the other things that this new supercarrier brings to the war in Iran is the transformation of
08:11what was already the largest deployment of US airpower to the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War,
08:16into an overwhelming force against which Iran has no chance of fighting.
08:21After Berner says as much in his analysis stating,
08:24This triple-carrier punch, one of the biggest concentrations of American naval airpower in modern times,
08:29combined with the massive amount hundreds of Air Force fighter jets and bombers in the region,
08:33means overwhelming strike capacity raining down on Iran's missile sites, command bunkers, and what's left of their navy at this
08:39point.
08:39That isn't good for Iran.
08:42What the arrival of the USS George H.W. Bush in the Mediterranean signifies is that the US has the
08:47ability to create what amounts to new military bases where bases aren't already present for the country.
08:52Part of Iran's strategy has been to strike US bases throughout the Gulf region, which is a desperate move, as
08:57we'll explain later.
08:59But with aircraft carriers, the US has what are essentially mobile bases loaded with defenses that Iran finds much more
09:05difficult to hit.
09:06A third American carrier arriving in Iran's proximity adds up to yet another moving target that can also launch enormous
09:12amounts of airpower
09:13at a country that has already seen its warfighting capacity diminished to near non-existence.
09:18Let's come back to After Berner's comments about overwhelming strike capacity.
09:22Iran will feel like it's dealing with that already.
09:24On March 6th, the Times of Israel reported on comments made by the IDF's Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Ayal
09:30Zemir,
09:30who said that the waves of strikes already unleashed against Iran had taken out 80% of the nation's air
09:36defenses and about 60% of its missile launchers.
09:39Though the threat hadn't yet been completely removed, Zemir cautioned, Iran has been severely weakened.
09:44We see that in the decline in Iran's offensive output since the first day of the war.
09:49What started as an attempt to project power through drone and missile launches has fallen off drastically.
09:54According to Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads the US forces in the Middle East,
09:58Iran's drone launches had fallen by 83% by March 5th, compared to the first day of the war.
10:03Ballistic missile launches had declined even further, dropping by 90%,
10:07which aligns with Zemir's claims that the US and Israel have been systematically destroying Iran's ability to fight back.
10:13Add the loss of untold numbers of command and control centers, which only makes it harder for Iran to fight
10:18back
10:18due to a lack of logistical support and instructions being passed down the line,
10:22and you get a force that barely justifies the use of the word.
10:25Iran will be wondering how it could possibly get any worse than it already is.
10:29The USS George H.W. Bush provides the answer.
10:33Beyond snatching away Iran's leverage in the Strait of Hormuz,
10:36the arrival of this carrier in the Mediterranean amounts to the US taking the gloves off after burner claims.
10:41He adds that we are now moving into phase 2 of the US plan for Iran after a devastating first
10:46week
10:47that has already crippled the country.
10:49With a third carrier in play, the US is setting up for the long game,
10:52as it has now given itself the ability to rotate and rest.
10:56The setup boosts the ability of the US to rotate in assets and keep these fighter jet waves fresh,
11:01as 3000 plus targets have been hit so far in the war, Afterburner declares.
11:05Keep that number in mind, we will be coming back to it soon.
11:08But what Afterburner is saying here is that the USS George H.W. Bush is a signal to Iran that
11:13there will be no respite.
11:14The US is accounting for pilot burnout and fighter jet maintenance requirements by bringing a third carrier into play.
11:20At least two carriers can now focus on hitting Iran in the Strait of Hormuz,
11:24while the carrier that has been rotated out handles repairs another issue.
11:27As soon as the rotated carrier is ready it is back in the game,
11:30either adding to the firepower of the two carriers already in play
11:33or providing an opportunity for another carrier to switch out.
11:36Trump has already said that he anticipates the war in Iran to last four to five weeks,
11:40and perhaps even longer than that.
11:42Bringing another supercarrier and the airpower that it brings with it into the fight
11:46is how the US ensures that it can keep up the same level of pressure that it has exerted thus
11:51far on Iran.
11:51And the US can do just that.
11:53We mentioned earlier that the USS George H.W. Bush doesn't carry F-35s.
11:58Most of its fighter jets are F-18s, which aren't stealthy.
12:02Naturally, sending those types of jets into a country when the US doesn't control the skies would be risky,
12:06but there is very little risk left.
12:08According to some, the US doesn't just have air superiority in Iran, it has air supremacy,
12:13which means that its fighter jets can fly around and bomb whatever they like, almost at will.
12:17The only thing that the US has to worry about now is small pockets of Iranian air defences
12:21instead of likely being cut off from the command and control centers that the US and Israel have spent over
12:25a week bombing into oblivion.
12:27Former commander of US Central Command David Petraeus says as much, telling The Hill,
12:32We're not concerned really at this point in time about the air and ballistic defense of Iran.
12:36As long as you stay above heavy machine gun range, that means you can really just pour it on.
12:40Air supremacy has been achieved, he says.
12:43And that means the arrival of the USS George H.W. Bush makes perfect sense.
12:47The US doesn't need any more F-35s than it already has.
12:51The jets already deployed can do the stealthy job of taking out what's left of Iran's air defences.
12:55That will leave the latest carrier group that has arrived to hit targets in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz
12:59with its fourth generation fighters.
13:02This layered approach of stealth first and sledgehammer later is what has led to the number we asked you to
13:07keep in mind earlier.
13:07Do you remember it?
13:093,000 plus strikes carried out by the US so far.
13:12And according to Afterburner, the arrival of the USS George H.W. Bush in the Mediterranean could lead to thousands
13:17more in the very near future.
13:18And likely that number will double or triple here in the next week or so, Afterburner says, adding.
13:23This will keep constant pressure on the regime.
13:26That mention of Iran's regime brings us to the final topic we'll cover in this video, what happens next.
13:31Right now, Iran is doing whatever it can to worm its way out of the situation that it's found itself
13:36in.
13:36Though there are clearly internal fractures at play that are causing its responses to be mismanaged and confusing.
13:42On March 8th, Al Jazeera reported that Iran's president, Massoud Pazeshkian, had offered an apology to the neighboring Gulf states
13:49for bombing them in response to Operation Epic Fury.
13:51As limp an attempt as this may have been to curry favor with nations that Iran has tried to bully
13:56for years, the apology was essentially withdrawn hours later, amid Iran attacking targets in Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab
14:03Emirates, among others.
14:04Right now, it's looking like Iran doesn't know head from tail, and with the appointment of former Supreme Leader Ali
14:10Khamenei's second son, Moitaba Khamenei, as the country's new Supreme Leader, it appears that fanatical devotion to the regime is
14:17still going to be demanded, though likely not achieved, in Iran.
14:21Trump has already called that appointment unacceptable, which suggests that the US is going to keep hitting Iran hard.
14:26The new Khamenei will be on borrowed time, as it's difficult to see how he could achieve anything other than
14:31hiding in a bunker after his own country just painted a target on his back.
14:35Iran's ruling regime is clearly in shambles right now.
14:39As for the US, it's just going to keep going.
14:41Trump says that he is seeking nothing less than unconditional surrender from Iran's regime, with Bloomberg adding that the US
14:47president seems to have lost all interest in offering a nuclear deal as an off-ramp to Iran.
14:52The time to make that deal has come and gone, it appears, and it's clear that the US is looking
14:56to heavily influence the direction of Iran in the future.
14:59After that, and the election of a great and acceptable leader, we, and many of our wonderful and very brave
15:04allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better,
15:10and stronger than ever before, Trump declared in a March 6 Truth Social post, covering what he has planned once
15:16Iran's regime falls.
15:17So, the arrival of the USS George H.W. Bush in the Mediterranean is a signal.
15:22Iran still isn't getting it yet.
15:24The US will continue the bombing and is building up its force to be even stronger.
15:28Right now, it looks like the only way out for Iran's regime is to move out of the way and
15:32let the US bring about the change in the country.
15:34Until that happens, the fourth-generation fighters on the latest supercarrier that the US has sent Iran's way will hit
15:40hard and fast, snatching away everything that Iran thought it could use to get its own way in this war.
15:45There is one man who will be watching these events unfold with abject horror, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
15:51He has been shaking in his boots ever since the protests that sparked everything we see now in Iran began,
15:55and there is a big reason why.
15:57If you want to find out what the reason is, well, you check out our video where we explain it.
16:01And if you enjoyed this video, make sure you are subscribed to The Military Show so you don't miss our
16:05reporting on the US and its war with Iran.
16:07And thank you for watching.
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