New footage from the Arabian Sea shows fighter jets launching from the USS George Washington as the carrier supports U.S. operations near Iran.

Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reported from aboard the ship Saturday, offering a close look at nighttime flight operations from one of the Navy’s most important assets in the region.

Yingst posted the nighttime launch as it happened:

The video shows an F-35C moving across the flight deck as sailors coordinate the launch in darkness.

In a second report, Yingst described the guided-missile destroyers screening the carrier as Iranian attacks on U.S. warships increased:

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CBS News reported that the carrier is operating near the Strait of Hormuz with roughly 5,000 personnel, fighter jets and munitions aboard.

A CBS crew watched service members launch nighttime missions this week. The network reported that those flights are supporting the U.S. blockade against Iran and providing cover for commercial vessels moving through the strait, where ships have faced missile and drone threats.

The carrier’s commanding officer, Capt. Nicholas Deleo, told CBS that the ship trains for both offensive and defensive protection against threats from the air, sea and surrounding region.

His comments came after the Navy confirmed that Iran had attempted to target U.S. warships with ballistic missiles the previous weekend.

CBS also reported that the mission is drawing on weapons and interceptor inventories that have faced scrutiny during the conflict. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has disputed reports that the military is running short, but the question illustrates the sustained logistical demands behind round-the-clock carrier operations.

The network’s report placed the George Washington near the Strait of Hormuz, where naval aviation is being used for both blockade enforcement and protection of civilian shipping.

The ship is not operating alone.

USNI News reported that the George Washington is in the Arabian Sea with Carrier Air Wing 5 and the guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup.

The air wing includes F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets, F-35C Lightning IIs, EA-18G Growlers, an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye squadron, helicopters and CMV-22B aircraft.

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That combination gives the carrier group the ability to conduct strike, surveillance, electronic-warfare, air-defense and logistics missions from the same platform. The E-2D aircraft add airborne command-and-control capability while the Growlers support electronic operations.

USNI’s September 8 fleet tracker listed a second American carrier group, led by the USS George H.W. Bush, in the Arabian Sea as well, expanding the number of aircraft and escorts available in the region.

It also placed additional destroyers and the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group in the wider region, showing that the George Washington is part of a broader naval deployment rather than an isolated ship operating near the strait.

The George Washington is homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, and ordinarily serves as the Navy’s forward-deployed carrier in the Pacific. Its move west placed Carrier Air Wing 5 and its escort ships inside the U.S. Central Command area during a scheduled deployment.

The carrier’s air wing and escorts provide overlapping layers of surveillance, air defense and strike capability, while support aircraft keep personnel and equipment moving across the force.

The George Washington arrived in the Middle East in August to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln after its extended deployment.

The Associated Press reported at the time that U.S. Central Command had confirmed the carrier’s arrival and that the Navy was enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Lincoln had spent more than 250 consecutive days at sea during a deployment that began in November 2025. Its extended time away from home drew attention from sailors’ families and lawmakers over crew stress, food supplies and shipboard conditions.

AP reported that the voyage back to the United States would take more than a month and that the exact timing of the carrier rotation was not immediately clear. Hegseth said the U.S. could maintain the blockade indefinitely, while the administration had not provided a public timetable for ending the conflict.

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The George Washington’s arrival gave the Navy a fresh carrier and air wing while allowing the Lincoln to begin its return from one of the longest deployments in recent Navy history.

Fox News summarized the George Washington’s current mission and the destroyers protecting the carrier group:

The pressure campaign now includes a major financial component.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast on August 24 at President Trump’s direction.

Treasury said the campaign is intended to isolate the Iranian government from financial networks used to move oil, evade sanctions and fund the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Officials described it as a sustained effort aimed at Iranian revenue streams and the overseas entities that help keep them open, with enforcement expected to continue worldwide beyond the initial August actions.

The department said it had mapped the banks, facilitators, shipping networks and other channels used to move money and petroleum despite existing restrictions. Those networks can include overseas front companies, exchange houses, vessel operators and commercial service providers.

The campaign covers Iranian entities as well as companies and financial institutions in third countries that continue to support those transactions.

Treasury presented the operation as a choice between continued isolation and eventual reintegration into the global economy. The announcement did not claim that sanctions alone had ended Iran’s military operations, and the administration has continued to pair economic measures with a substantial naval presence.

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That structure connects the financial measures to the maritime mission: one track limits Iranian revenue and access to international services while the other enforces shipping restrictions near the strait.

Treasury said the August announcement marked the beginning of the campaign, signaling that additional designations and enforcement actions could follow as officials identify more facilitators.

The economic impact is already visible.

The Associated Press reported Friday that Iran’s oil exports fell from approximately 1.85 million barrels per day last spring to about 255,000 barrels per day in August, citing figures from Kpler.

The same report said tightened sanctions and the blockade are contributing to rising prices and longer lines at gas stations inside Iran, adding pressure to an economy already affected by inflation and reduced access to foreign trade.

At the same time, AP reported that Iran has not made concessions over the Strait of Hormuz, its nuclear program or its support for armed groups in the region.

Non-Iranian oil exports through the region have risen as U.S. forces provide security for shipping, according to the figures cited by AP.

Kpler estimated that those exports reached 8.4 million barrels per day in September, with alternative routes bringing the total to 10.8 million. Prewar non-Iranian exports were about 14 million barrels per day.

Analysts cautioned that economic damage does not automatically produce a political settlement. Iran has continued to attack shipping and U.S.-linked targets, while Iran-backed Houthi forces have intensified attacks affecting Saudi energy infrastructure and the Bab el-Mandeb route to the Red Sea.

Those attacks create a second pressure point for regional trade because Bab el-Mandeb connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

The U.S. military posture also carries risks. CBS reported that Iran recently attempted to target American warships with ballistic missiles, while officials and analysts have raised concerns about pressure on interceptor and precision-weapons stockpiles.

For the sailors and aviators aboard the George Washington, the mission continues around the clock.

The latest footage shows what that looks like from the flight deck: aircraft moving into position, crews working under difficult conditions and jets launching into the night over one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.

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This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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