US carrier struggles amid prolonged war with Iran

Washington, DC – Reports about living and working conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during its record-breaking deployment have opened a new debate about how the Trump administration is handling the US-Israel war with Iran. According to experts, the situation highlights the limits of US naval power in a conflict that has lasted nearly six months with no end in sight.

The issues raised include difficulties in resupplying in a region where US military bases have come under repeated attack, as well as the constraints on the Navy in a prolonged asymmetric war. This has sparked concerns about America's deterrent capability in other regions.

“The bottom line is you're going to have readiness issues,” Bradley Martin, a former US Navy captain and senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, told Al Jazeera. “The Navy exists to project power and fill gaps, but you have to accept the reality that there are limits.”

Logistics and crew morale problems

Unlike previously reported ammunition shortages, the problems aboard the USS Lincoln relate to crew morale, shortages of basic supplies, and maintenance difficulties. Many sailors' families have expressed concerns about their loved ones' condition, including incidents of personnel attempting to jump overboard.

Democratic lawmakers have accused this of being a “pattern” throughout the Trump administration's conduct of the war. They cite similar conditions aboard the USS Gerald Ford, which was deployed for 326 days before rotating out in May, and the USS Lincoln, which has been operating since November 2025 and has broken records for the longest time without a port call.

In an August 18 letter, Democratic lawmakers argued that these developments “raise concerns in Congress and the public that the Department of Defense has not adapted quickly enough to conditions in the CENTCOM region, nor has it taken appropriate measures to mitigate the persistent challenges in the fleet.”

The New York Times quoted a US military official as saying the Navy has been forced to use Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean as a primary resupply hub, about 3,540 kilometers from where the USS Lincoln and USS George HW Bush operate near Iran. The reason is believed to be that the naval base in Bahrain was severely damaged in the early stages of the war.

'Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics'

Alexandru Hudisteanu, a maritime security expert and former Romanian naval officer, said the situation underscores the burden of maintaining US global power projection, which relies on the Navy and its 11 operational carriers. Each carrier strike group typically includes a cruiser, 4-6 destroyers, 75 aircraft, and 7,500 sailors and Marines.

“There's a famous saying in military circles: amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics,” Hudisteanu said. “Power projection assets like carriers always carry a logistical burden. With the Bahrain base neutralized, the nearest base sits on a small island about 2,000 miles south of Iran.”

The Pentagon and the White House have rejected characterizations of conditions aboard the USS Lincoln as “dire,” saying they are harsh conditions that can occur in wartime. However, US Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao has said the ship will soon return home. The USS George Washington, primarily based in Japan, is moving from the Western Pacific to the Middle East to replace it.

This shift leaves the Western Pacific, long a strategic priority for the US, without a carrier. The Navy has not announced a replacement plan for the USS Washington. Besides the three carriers currently deployed, all others are docked in the US. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is expected to deploy in September, with two others possibly ready by late 2026 or early 2027.

Limits in an asymmetric war

Harlan Ullman, a former naval officer and chairman of consulting firm Killowen Group, said the problems aboard the USS Lincoln reflect the demands of a prolonged war under an administration that believed the military campaign against Iran would be quick.

“Iran has forced two US carriers to be out of action for what could be up to a year, including Ford and Lincoln,” Ullman said, noting that post-deployment maintenance typically lasts at least seven months. “So we've lost two carriers for a long time because of this war.”

Despite weakening Iran's already limited navy and rolling back its ballistic missile program, military experts agree that deterring Iran's nuclear program may require ground forces. The Trump administration recently narrowed its war aims, focusing on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and maintaining an “indefinite” blockade of Iran's ports.

However, former Navy captain Martin argued that even that limited goal is constrained by the Navy's current structure, as Iran relies heavily on cheap drones and small boats. The US lacks “the small-ship force structure to handle a prolonged blockade campaign.”

“A carrier is a very powerful platform for many purposes, but for most of what we're facing with Iran, it's not suited,” Martin said. “The problem is persistence and rotation. Frankly, the Navy is not big enough to meet all the demands of this war and other commitments.”

'The larger challenge for America'

Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the pressure on the US Navy lies in the “emerging nature” of drone warfare. She compared it to Ukraine's ability to resist the Russian fleet in the Black Sea with drones despite lacking a large navy.

The war with Iran has also led to a reassessment of the US posture in the Middle East and the base system established in the early 2000s. On August 18, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon is considering plans to withdraw forces from the region, particularly the Persian Gulf, though no official assessment has been made.

In the short term, the renewed emphasis on naval pressure opens a politically vulnerable front in a war facing broad public opposition in the US. “The reports of dire conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln partly reflect the larger challenge America faces in this conflict,” Yacoubian said. “It raises the question: What is the strategy? What is the endgame? Is our posture in the region sustainable? What is the contingency plan?”