The US ordered its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to remain in the Middle East and a second vessel is en route with Middle East tensions at a fever pitch following Iran’s attack on Israel, officials said.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the USS Abraham Lincoln will stay in the Middle East as the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier speeds along to the region, according to the Pentagon.
The ship will join America’s already large military arsenal in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean, which helped defend Israel from Tehran’s latest attack against the Jewish state.
The USS Abraham Lincoln
The Lincoln was rushed to the Middle East in August to relieve the USS Theodore Roosevelt amid the rising tensions between Israel and Iran’s terror proxies.
The Lincoln is America’s fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, among the largest warships in the world, with F-35 fighter jets on board, according to the US Navy.
The aircraft carrier is currently patrolling the Arabian Sea, just east of the Gulf of Aden where the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been attacking military and merchant ships allegedly tied to Israel.
The USS Harry S. Truman
The Truman, another Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was originally set to replace the Lincoln before Austin ordered the presence of two warships in the region.
The vessel was previously in the Middle East during the early years of America’s war in Iraq and later oversaw 2,900 combat missions during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
How Israel's Iron Dome works
Israel’s Iron Dome is a high-tech missile defense system designed to shoot down incoming rockets and missiles before they can hit populated areas.
- Detection: Radar scans the skies, tracking incoming rockets or missiles.
- Assessment: The system calculates the threat — where the missile will hit.
- Targeting: If the missile is heading for a populated area, Iron Dome locks on.
- Interception: A missile is fired from an Iron Dome launcher, speeding to intercept.
- Neutralization: The interceptor destroys the incoming rocket mid-air, preventing it from reaching its target.
USS Georgia
The USS Georgia guided-missile submarine arrived in the Middle East earlier this month specifically to aid Israel in the event of an attack from Iran or Hezbollah.
The nuclear-powered sub is armed with cruise missiles capable of intercepting attacks from the looming attacks from Iran and its terror proxies.
The Wasp Amphibious Ready Group
The Wasp Amphibious Ready Group has been stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean since June, with the fleet led by the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship.
The Wasp is joined by the USS New York amphibious transport dock and USS Oak Hill dock landing ship, which are in the region in the event of a mass evacuation operation from Lebanon, USNI News reported.
US officials have already called on citizens in Lebanon to flee the country over fears that a war between Israel and Hezbollah is inevitable.
American guided-missile destroyers
Along with the aircraft carriers and evacuation ships, the US has large guided-missile destroyers in the Middle East, three of which came under attack from the Houthi rebels last Friday.
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Spruance and USS Stockdale, along with the Portland-class USS Indianapolis, are operating in the Mediterranean and Red Sea quelling the Houthi attacks.
Also in the Mediterranean are the USS Cole and USS Bulkeley, which helped intercept Iran’s attacks on Israel.
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