The second round of peace talks between the US and Iran may be progressing as schedule but the US is still flexing its military muscles with reports stating that it is on track to have three aircraft carrier strike groups in the Middle East in the coming days.
While the USS Abraham Lincoln CSG, the first to arrive in the Middle Eastern waters, is in the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, supporting the blockade, the biggest carrier in the world, the USS Gerald R Ford, is reportedly in the Red Sea, after a month-long sojourn in the Mediterranean Sea. Ford, along with the destroyers USS Winston S. Churchill and USS Mahan.
The carrier, with embarked Carrier Air Wing 8 and more than 4,500 sailors and personnel, transited the Suez Canal and is now operating in the Red Sea, though it is unclear when the carrier, which was undergoing repair in Souda Bay, Greece, and Split, Croatia, crossed the Suez Canal, according to Stars and Stripes.
As for the third carrier, the USS George HW Bush, it is still near Madagascar and is sailing north to the Arabian Sea in the coming days.
Notably, the Bush departed Virginia on March 31 and, rather than travel east through the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal and into the Red Sea, the ships traveled southeast and went all the way around Africa. As per reports, the vessel avoided the Strait of Gibraltar toward the Mediterranean Sea so as to avoid transiting through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Many claim was to stay away from Houthi drones and missiles targeting US and commercial vessels in those waterways over the past two years.
The USS Ford CSG is in the northern Red Sea. It’s been deployed for roughly 300 days, one of the longest deployments in history.
However, there are reports that the carrier is being sent to the Middle Eastern waters so as to replace the USS Ford, which is on a record 297-day deployment. The USS Ford was in the news after a fire broke out in the ship’s main laundry areas, causing damage to multiple compartments and displacing some 600 personnel.
There are also reports that the US quietly used the current US-Iran ceasefire to reposition critical THAAD and Patriot missile defence batteries across Jordan. Chinese satellite imagery released on April 19 showed the recent US deployments, which included dispersed launchers, support vehicles, radar arrays, and freshly prepared defensive positions near existing Jordanian military facilities.
The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are expected to arrive before the end of the month.
The large-scale deployment has highlighted concerns that the US may return to offensive action if the talks fail.
