A new US aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East, the US military announced on Thursday, after conditions aboard a long-deployed carrier provoked fresh criticism of US President Donald Trump's war against Iran. "The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in Middle East during a scheduled deployment after arriving in the Centcom theatre yesterday," Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X.

The update comes just days after media reports on grim conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier – deployed since November 2025 – had created an unwelcome distraction for Trump in his attempt to sell the already unpopular war. Several outlets, including specialist military publications, quoted relatives of crew members as saying that living conditions had deteriorated on the Lincoln, with food shortages and broken plumbing.

Notably, there have been reports of several suicide attempts. Trump dismissed the concerns but confirmed another carrier would swap out with the Lincoln. The Japan-based USS George Washington had been operating in the Pacific. Its transfer means there is no longer any US aircraft carrier in that region.

The Lincoln had departed California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began in late February.

US Government Warns: Hackers Attacking Vulnerable Water Systems With AI Help

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

Several U.S. government agencies have said that cyber actors are attempting to hack into devices made by industrial systems company Siemens that are used to monitor water and other critical infrastructure systems.

In an advisory published on Wednesday, the FBI, National Security Agency (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and other U.S. agencies informed “owners and operators of industrial control systems” that there is an “active cyber threat to Siemens S7 Series PLCs,” or programmable logic controllers—an industrial automation system.

Unnamed “threat actors are conducting reconnaissance and capability development against U.S.-based Siemens PLC installations using AI-generated exploitation scripts disguised as legitimate monitoring tools,” the advisory said.

It added that the hackers use services to find PLCs connected to the internet that run what the agencies said is “outdated software” or are “otherwise poorly protected.”

“The U.S. critical infrastructure sectors most targeted by this threat activity include Critical Manufacturing, Energy, Water and Wastewater, Chemical, Food and Agriculture, and Commercial Facilities,” the advisory reads.

“This is not a theoretical risk—it is an active threat.”

The agencies further warned that “exploitation of poorly protected PLCs could lead to disruption of critical industrial processes, safety incidents, downtime or equipment damage, compromise of sensitive data, compliance violations, and cascading impacts across interconnected systems.”

Organizations using Siemens systems are encouraged to apply relevant security updates, isolate devices and systems from the internet where possible, implement strong security protocols, and strengthen monitoring for potential malicious activity, according to the advisory.

“These mitigations are particularly important for owners and operators who work with third-party service providers or system integrators who may have remote access to PLCs, as the asset owners may not realize that their systems are exposed and at risk,” they added.

The advisory did not provide the name of a specific group, country, or actor that may be involved in attempting to hack the Siemens systems. Nor did it name companies that may have been targeted by the threat actors.

The warning ‌comes amid U.S. cyber incidents ⁠targeting local water systems in several states in recent weeks. The FBI said earlier this month that from July 27 to July 30, water and wastewater utility companies in seven states reported security-related incidents.

In July, CISA and other agencies said Iran-linked hackers have targeted PLCs made by Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Siemens, and potentially others.

A cybersecurity risk organization, Encrygma, said on Wednesday that a group linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, known as the CyberAv3ngers, has attacked water systems in the United States and displayed political messaging. CISA linked the group to cyberattacks on PLCs in late 2024.

Since February, the United States and Iran have traded strikes as the Trump administration has demanded that Tehran give up its nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway that allows for the transportation of significant amounts of the world’s traded oil.

Other agencies that were involved in the release of Wednesday’s advisory included the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The NSA, FBI, CISA, and other U.S. agencies have long said that the Chinese regime, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have engaged in malicious cyber activity against U.S. infrastructure networks, collecting intelligence and engaging in cyber espionage.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/20/2026 - 17:40

New US carrier arrives in Mideast to relieve long-deployed ship The USS George Washington carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, after reports of poor conditions aboard the long-deployed carrier. WASHINGTON: A new US aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East, the US military announced Thursday (Aug 20), after conditions aboard a long-deployed carrier provoked fresh criticism of US President Donald Trump's war against Iran.

"The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in Middle East during a scheduled deployment after arriving in the CENTCOM theatre yesterday," Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X. The update comes just days after media reports on grim conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier - deployed since November 2025 - had created an unwelcome distraction for Trump in his attempt to sell the already unpopular war.

Several outlets, including specialist military publications, quoted relatives of crew members as saying that living conditions had deteriorated on the Lincoln, with food shortages and broken plumbing. Notably, there have been reports of several suicide attempts.

Trump dismissed the concerns but confirmed another carrier would swap out with the Lincoln. The Japan-based USS George Washington had been operating in the Pacific. Its transfer means there is no longer any US aircraft carrier in that region - a boon for an assertive China.

"The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in Middle East during a scheduled deployment after arriving in the CENTCOM theatre yesterday," Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X. The update comes just days after media reports on grim conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier - deployed since November 2025 - had created an unwelcome distraction for Trump in his attempt to sell the already unpopular war.

Several outlets, including specialist military publications, quoted relatives of crew members as saying that living conditions had deteriorated on the Lincoln, with food shortages and broken plumbing. Notably, there have been reports of several suicide attempts.

Trump dismissed the concerns but confirmed another carrier would swap out with the Lincoln. The Japan-based USS George Washington had been operating in the Pacific. Its transfer means there is no longer any US aircraft carrier in that region - a boon for an assertive China.

The Lincoln had departed California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began in late February. Source: AFP/fs Also worth reading Content is loading...

USS George Washington replaces Lincoln amid crew stress concerns The USS George Washington has taken over in the Middle East as the USS Abraham Lincoln heads home after a record deployment. The handover keeps pressure on Iran-linked operations but briefly leaves Asia without a US carrier strike group.

The Asia-based USS George Washington has begun operating in the Middle East, replacing the USS Abraham Lincoln after a long deployment that drew scrutiny over reports of crew stress, poor mental health and shortages of food and hygiene products, the US military said on Thursday.

The change comes as the US keeps up operations linked to the Iran war, including a reimposed blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. It also leaves Asia without an American aircraft carrier group for now, at a time when China has shown more signs of aggression.

US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said on social media that the George Washington arrived in the region on Wednesday. It was not clear when the Abraham Lincoln would return to the US or whether it would make a port stop on the way, though the journey takes just over a month.

Concern has grown over the Lincoln's lengthy deployment, which included more than 250 uninterrupted days at sea, a record-setting stretch for the carrier. Reports from the ship pointed to crew stress, poor mental health and shortages of supplies, including food and hygiene products.

Several Democratic lawmakers have sought accountability from the Department of Defence over conditions aboard the Lincoln. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the reports were "completely misrepresented." Hegseth spoke with the Lincoln's crew last week, and Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, visited over the weekend.

In an editorial published in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Cooper wrote that the crew had "delivered a performance for the ages, and now you are going home." In a statement issued after visiting the carrier, he praised its leaders for prioritising mental health and resilience, and said, "History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era.

" Extended carrier deployments can put pressure on both sailors and equipment. Although renewed hostilities between the US and Iran have eased in recent weeks, the Navy is enforcing the reimposed blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Trump administration has not said how it plans to wind down the war.

Hegseth has said the US can maintain the blockade "indefinitely." President Donald Trump this week played down the reports about conditions on the Lincoln, which left its home port in San Diego in November and arrived in the Middle East in January. He described the nearly nine months at sea as a "good period of time", adding that "over the years, we've had them out there much longer.

" Trump also told reporters on Monday that he had spoken to a retired admiral over the weekend who said the Lincoln was "beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of," though he did not name the officer. The George Washington has joined the USS George H.

W. Bush in the Middle East. That leaves Asia without a US carrier strike group for now, though the gap may be brief if the Navy sends another one in the next couple of months. The move highlights the strain of open-ended operations linked to Iran on some American sailors, analysts say, even as the Trump administration further retreats from the Asia-Pacific region and focuses on the Western Hemisphere.

Overall, the George Washington's arrival marks a handover in the Middle East as the Lincoln heads towards home after an unusually long deployment that triggered concern over crew welfare, while the US continues its Iran-related mission and temporarily leaves the Pacific without an American carrier strike group.