Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered more warplanes and Navy ships to the Middle East to maintain U.S. presence in the region as an aircraft carrier strike group is preparing to leave, the Pentagon announced Friday.
Austin ordered additional ballistic missile defense destroyers, a fighter squadron and tanker aircraft, and several Air Force B-52 long-range strike bombers to the region, press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.
“These forces will begin to arrive in coming months as the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Strike Group prepares to depart,” he added.
Ryder did not say how many American forces will be in the region with the changes, but as many as 43,000 U.S. troops have been there recently.
The bulked-up U.S. military stance comes as Israel has shown no sign of relenting in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and a separate conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel also launched a retaliatory strike on Iran last week targeting military bases and weapons production. That followed Tehran’s strike on Israel exactly one month ago when it fired a barrage of about 180 missiles at the country.
Washington, while pressing for a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, has made little progress on that front ahead of the U.S. presidential election. Two White House officials, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, were in Israel on Thursday to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but they returned home on Friday with little to show.
In the meantime, U.S. officials have repeatedly said it will defend Israel and U.S. personnel and interests in the region, with the Pentagon last month sending roughly 100 American troops to Israel to operate a provided Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system.
The additional B-52 bombers are notable as it is the second time within a month that the U.S. has ordered the warplanes to the Middle East, where it uses the aircraft to send a warning to Iran and its proxies.
“Secretary Austin continues to make clear that should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people,” Ryder said.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and the three Navy destroyers in its strike group are set to leave the waters of the Middle East by mid-November, returning to their home port in San Diego, The Associated Press reported.
Its departure will leave a gap where there will be no aircraft carrier in the Middle East for an unknown amount of time, though the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier is expected to move to the Mediterranean Sea.
