US Navy Strike group may be expanded:
The force will be composed of two carrier strike groups centered around the
USS Gerald R. Ford and the
USS Dwight Eisenhower, the latter currently on its way to the region. On October 21,
the Eisenhower was redirected to the Arabian Sea to “assist in the defense of Israel.” The former had been scheduled to end its six-month deployment, but this has now been extended for an indeterminate period. Together, they have nine escorts.
In addition, the Biden administration is
moving the
USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) to the area. It has also been reported that the command ship
USS Mount Whitney has deployed in support of Eastern Mediterranean operations, which suggests that the US might form a joint task force in the region with a senior officer taking command of that effort at sea on the command ship.
This combined force represents one of the largest US naval deployments in these waters since June 1983, when four US carrier groups were in the Eastern Mediterranean and, later in the year, when two carriers and the battleship
USS New Jersey bombed and shelledterrorist positions in Lebanon. US Marines have also been present many times in the region and
ran non-combatant evacuation operations from Beirut in the summer of 1983, before the barracks bombing.
