The USS Gettysburg (CG-64), a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser—best known for accidentally downing an F/A-18F Super Hornet in a blue-on-blue incident last December during operations against the Houthis in Yemen—has arrived in the southern Caribbean on an unscheduled deployment. The ship is joining the naval task force conducting counter–narco-terrorism operations under U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).

The Gettysburg now operates alongside the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, several Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyers, and at least one additional Ticonderoga-class cruiser already in the area. They are expected to be joined soon by the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and the rest of Carrier Strike Group Twelve (CSG-12).