Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Heads to Middle East as Iran Threatens Strikes Against Israel
West Coast carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is setting sail to the Middle East from the Pacific to relieve the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and its strike group. Meanwhile, the Navy is sending additional ships to the region following threats from Iran, Pentagon officials announced on Friday evening.
“To maintain a carrier strike group presence in the Middle East, the Secretary has ordered the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, currently on deployment in the Central Command area of responsibility,” reads the Pentagon statement.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, “has ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command regions. The Department is also taking steps to increase our readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense.”
The U.S. moves to bolster military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East follows reports that Iranian military officials and proxy forces in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen will meet to discuss options to retaliate against Israel following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
“Iran and the resistance members will conduct a thorough assessment after the meeting in Tehran to find the best and most effective way to retaliate against [Israel],” a senior Iranian official told newswire Reuters.
In April, Iran launched a complex missile and lethal drone attack toward Israel in response to an Israeli strike against the Iranian embassy in Syria.
The Iranian attack was repelled in part due to U.S. guided-missile destroyers that intercepted cruise and ballistic missiles in the first combat use of the Standard Missile 3.
As of Monday, Lincoln was operating in the vicinity of Hawaii following its July 11 deployment from San Diego and TR was operating in the Persian Gulf, according to USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker.
It’s unclear on the timing of the transition between the two strike groups. Lincoln could take two weeks or more to cross the Pacific and Indian Ocean to arrive in the Middle East. Roosevelt, which deployed on Jan. 11, has been operating in the Middle East since July 12 as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect merchant traffic in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. TR was moved from the Pacific to the Middle East to keep a carrier in the region and prevent USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) and its escorts from being extended a third time, USNI News first reported. The next East Coast carrier set to head to the region, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), is still off the East Coast and in the midst of its pre-deployment training, USNI News understands.
In addition, the three-ship Wasp Amphibious Ready Group with the embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit is currently in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ARG, composed of USS Wasp (LHD-1), USS New York (LPD-21) and USS Oak Hill (LSD-51), and the 24th MEU are in position in the event of a non-combatant evacuation of people from Lebanon, several defense officials have told USNI News.
The Pentagon also announced the deployment of unspecified fighter squadrons headed to the region.
“The Secretary of Defense has reiterated that the United States will protect our personnel and interests in the region, including our ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel,” reads the statement from the Pentagon.
https://news.usni.org/2024/08/02/carrier-uss-abraham-lincoln-heads-to-middle-east-as-iran-threatens-strikes-against-israel