The U.S. Central Command says the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson has joined the flat-top USS Harry S. Truman in the Middle East, where the ships will jointly work to suppress the missile and drone attacks that Yemen-based Houthis have been launching against commercial shipping. CEN TCOM posted a video Wednesday on X (formerly Twitter) that shows the two carriers launching aircraft in the Red Sea. The video comes just over two weeks after President Donald Trump ordered the Vinson and its escort ships to shift from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East. The Vinson is carrying F-35C Lightning fighter jets, one of the most advanced aircraft in the military. The carrier also is carrying two helicopter squadrons and a logistics squadron from Naval Air Station North Island. Escort ships include the destroyer USS Sterett and the cruiser USS Princeton, both homeported in San Diego, according to the US Naval Institute. Back home: The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been operating off Southern California, returned to North Island on Saturday afternoon. ...read more read less