The US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford left the Caribbean Sea for the Atlantic Ocean on its way to the Middle East, The Washington Post reports, citing US security officials.
According to the newspaper, the carrier is being escorted by five destroyers. The Ford is expected to join the USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group, which have been operating in the Arabian Sea since late January.
A significant US naval presence is already concentrated in the Middle East. Alongside the Lincoln are three escorting destroyers. In the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, two additional destroyers and three warships equipped with mine-clearing systems for near-shore combat are deployed. In the Red Sea, the destroyer USS Delbert D. Black is operating, while two more destroyers are stationed in the Mediterranean Sea.
At the same time, extensive air traffic to the region has been recorded over the past day. According to publicly available flight-tracking data and open-source intelligence analysis, F-16 and F-22 fighter jets took off from the US and crossed Europe accompanied by aerial refueling aircraft on their way to the Middle East. Eighteen F-35 fighter jets were also reported to have arrived yesterday, and Axios reported that more than 50 fighter aircraft, including F-35s, F-22s and F-16s, were transferred to the region in the past 24 hours, a figure confirmed by an official US source.
The reports rely largely on open flight-tracking data, particularly of refueling aircraft, analysis of the squadrons stationed at departure bases and communications data. Official confirmation of force deployments is not routinely published unless there is an operational or other need to do so.
Several US bases in the region are serving as destinations for the incoming aircraft. These include Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, where dozens of F-15E fighter jets have already been deployed and where F-35s are also believed to be heading, and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which serves as the forward headquarters of US Central Command. The US also maintains additional bases in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
In addition, THAAD and Patriot air defense systems have reportedly been deployed at US bases in the region, amid the understanding that in the event of a strike on Iran they could become targets for retaliation, as occurred following Operation Midnight Hammer in June, when Iran attacked Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Satellite images last week indicated the operational deployment of Patriot batteries at the base.
Spy planes, relay aircraft, electronic warfare and search and rescue aircraft have also been positioned, and dozens of heavy transport flights by C-17 and C-5 aircraft have been documented carrying equipment to various bases. The carrier-based air wings include F-35C jets, F/A-18 fighter aircraft, EA-18G electronic warfare planes and E-2D early warning and command aircraft, alongside combat and rescue helicopters. Each destroyer is equipped with dozens of Tomahawk missiles capable of conducting precision strikes at ranges of thousands of kilometers.
