Iran war live: US slaps new sanctions on Iran, warns Tehran trade partners

Retired US Navy Vice Admiral John Miller says the US lacks “quite enough Navy for all the requirements”, despite possessing 11 aircraft carriers – eight more than its nearest rival, China, which has three.“Eleven sounds like a lot,” Miller told Al Jazeera, but noted that only a handful are operational at any given time. Maintenance remains a key bottleneck, with at least one carrier typically undergoing a multi-year overhaul and refuelling, while general repairs and training keep others sidelined, he explained.Determining deployment readiness requires dividing the total fleet by three, Miller argued: “If we have nine carriers available on any given day, three can be deployed, three just got back, and three are getting ready to go again.”That formula explains why Washington was forced to redeploy its sole Asia Pacific carrier, the USS George Washington, to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln and join the USS George HW Bush in the Middle East.“Two carrier strike groups in the Middle East is a significant amount of firepower, so that comes at a cost someplace else,” Miller said.The US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, left, will soon leave the Middle East after more than 250 days at sea (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)