The US Navy is rapidly moving additional forces to the Middle East as the region remains on high alert, bracing for a potential attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies.
Iranian officials have vowed to take revenge over the recent assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders — both of which have been blamed on Israel — and fears continue to grow that any retaliation from Tehran and its proxies could plunge the Middle East into more violence.
Facing this possibility, the Pentagon has deployed a number of military assets to the Middle East this month to defend Israel and US troops in the region. Most recently, on Sunday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin directed a submarine to the Middle East and ordered a carrier strike group to accelerate its transit to the region.
When these forces arrive on station, they will join a wide range of existing naval capabilities in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean that were already deployed in response to various conflicts and crises.
These are the American warships already in the area and those on their way, according to a US defense official, who told Business Insider on Tuesday that the Navy is “ready to respond to anything.”
Eastern Mediterranean
The Wasp Amphibious Ready Group deployed in June and is currently operating in the Eastern Mediterranean, which falls under US European Command, or EUCOM.
Its arrival in the region came amid concerns over increasing hostilities between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
The ARG consists of the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp and its embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill, and the amphibious transport dock USS New York.
Additionally, two destroyers — USS Bulkeley and USS Roosevelt — have been in the area for several weeks.
A third destroyer, USS Laboon, is in port at Souda Bay, a decades-old forward-operating station on the Greek island of Crete. Laboon spent months deployed off the coast of Yemen as part of the US response to Houthi attacks on merchant shipping lanes.
Red Sea
The destroyer USS Cole is presently operating in the Red Sea, where the Navy has seen continuous conflict for months.
Like the Laboon and a number of other American warships, the Cole has been involved in the Navy’s ongoing counter-Houthi mission for several weeks.
As part of this mission, this warship is tasked with defending commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — both of which fall under US Central Command, or CENTCOM — from missiles and drones launched by the Yemeni rebels.
Gulf of Oman
The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group arrived in the CENTCOM region last month to replace the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which spent months battling the Houthis but has since returned to the US.
The strike group consists of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and four destroyers — specifically USS Michael Murphy, USS John S. McCain, USS Daniel Inouye, and USS Russell — and is operating around the Gulf of Oman.
Warships in transit
Shortly after the back-to-back killings of a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut and Hamas’ politician chief in Tehran two weeks ago that prompted calls for revenge in Iran, the US announced sweeping force posture changes in the Middle East.
The Pentagon directed the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the Roosevelt and its escort ships in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.
The coming Lincoln strike group consists of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and the destroyers USS Spruance, USS Stockdale, USS Frank E. Petersen, and USS O’Kane.
The strike group is still in the Philippine Sea, so it still has a ways to go before arriving in the Middle East, but Austin has ordered the Lincoln strike group to accelerate its transit to the region, where it’ll add “to the capabilities already provided” by the Roosevelt strike group, the Pentagon has said.
The defense secretary has also directed the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia to the CENTCOM area. The Ohio-class vessel is armed with over 150 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and was in the Mediterranean Sea as of July 31.
As of Tuesday, the missile submarine had not yet arrived in the CENTCOM region, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at a briefing.
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