A U.S. Navy strike group has been redirected, and patriot battalions have been activated to increase the protection of United States forces in the region and aid in the defense of Israel following recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces.
“The Pentagon announced late Saturday that it will send an aircraft carrier and air defense systems to defend U.S. military troops in response to a growing number of attacks on U.S. facilities, presumably by Iranian-backed groups as tensions mount amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Additional U.S. military forces in the U.S. have also been placed in a higher state of readiness for a possible future deployment to the Middle East on short notice.
In a major change, the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower and its strike group of a cruiser and destroyers is being redirected to the Middle East instead of to the eastern Mediterranean where it was supposed to join the USS Ford strike group as an additional deterrent for Iran and Hezbollah from broadening the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
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| The USS Gerald R. Ford will operate alongside the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the eastern Mediterranean. |
Over the last week, there have been a growing number of security incidents involving drone and rocket attacks on U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq that appear to have been carried out by Iranian-backed groups opposed to the U.S. support of Israel in its war against Hamas.
In the most visible attack on Thursday, the destroyer USS Carney intercepted four missiles and 15 drones fired from Yemen, by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia that the Pentagon said may have been headed towards targets in Israel.
At the time, the destroyer was located in the central Red Sea and used SM-2 air defense missiles and other capabilities to bring down the Houthi missiles and drones.
Austin is also adding more air defense systems and troops to the Middle East to protect U.S. military forces in the region including a THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Air Defense) missile battery and additional Patriot air defense battalions.
‘Finally, I have placed an additional number of forces on prepare to deploy orders as part of prudent contingency planning, to increase their readiness and ability to quickly respond as required’, said Austin.
‘I will continue to assess our force posture requirements in the region and consider deploying additional capabilities as necessary’, he added.
The additional air defense units being sent to the Middle East were likely among the more than 2,000 U.S. military forces that Austin had placed on prepare to deploy orders last week. Those additional personnel were told to be ready to deploy on 24 hours' notice if needed and included units specialized in air defense, security, logistics, medical support, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, transportation, and other capabilities”. -ABC News
Considering how Israel doesn’t have the capabilities to sustain a bombing campaign in Iran without the backing of the U.S. military, if Hezbollah were to open up a northern front for Israel, it would not only pose a potential threat to Tel Aviv, but it could jeopardize the safety of American bases and personnel located throughout the Arabian Peninsula.