U.S. to Send More Combat Aircraft to Middle East as Iran Threatens Israel

[Pelican Press 0]

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U.S. to Send More Combat Aircraft to Middle East as Iran Threatens *******

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Friday ordered additional combat aircraft and missile-********* warships to the Middle East in response to threats from Iran and its proxies in Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen to ******* ******* in the coming days to avenge the ****** of Ismail Haniyeh, the Pentagon said.

The military will send one additional squadron of Air Force F-22 fighter jets, an unspecified number of additional Navy cruisers and destroyers capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, and, if needed, more land-based ballistic-missile defense systems.

To maintain the presence of an aircraft carrier and its accompanying warships in the region, Mr. Austin also directed the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, now in the eastern Pacific, to relieve the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt in the next couple of weeks when it is scheduled to return home.

Some ships already in the western Mediterranean Sea will move east, closer to the coast of ******* to provide more security, a senior Pentagon official said.

“Secretary Austin has ordered adjustments to U.S. military posture designed to improve U.S. force protection, to increase support for the defense of ******* and to ensure the ******* States is prepared to respond to various contingencies,” Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.

The statement did not specify when the additional warplanes and combatant vessels would arrive, but officials said on Friday it would be a matter of days for the additional aircraft and somewhat longer for the naval reinforcements.

Earlier on Friday, officials were still deciding how many additional planes and warships to send. Officials said they were seeking to calibrate the ********* response to send enough of the right types of aircraft and ships as quickly as possible to help defend ******* without appearing to escalate the conflict.

Ms. Singh, in a news conference earlier on Friday, had raised the possibility that the ******* States could also send additional troops to operate whatever additional capabilities the Pentagon sends to the region. The support, she said, would be defensive in nature.

She said that during a telephone call Mr. Austin held with his ******** counterpart, Yoav Gallant, on Friday morning, Mr. Austin “committed” that the ******* States would help ******* in its defense. “We will be bolstering our force protection in the region,” she said.

The Pentagon is also bracing for the possibility that Iran-backed groups, including the Houthis in Yemen and Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, might target ********* troops in the region as part of the expected Iranian retaliation for the ******** of Mr. Haniyeh this week.

Mr. Austin, during the conversation with Mr. Gallant, expressed concerns about the dangers of escalation. He said that “all countries” in the region would benefit from defusing tensions, Ms. Singh said.

In addition to some 80 land-based combat aircraft, the Pentagon has already deployed more than a dozen warships in the region. The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, equipped with about 40 F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-35 ******* planes, is now steaming near the Arabian Gulf, while the U.S.S. Wasp amphibious ready group, with 30 airplanes and helicopters as well as 4,500 Marines and sailors, is operating in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Any additional air power could be crucial. Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles against ******* in a major ******* in April, but only a handful got through, causing slight damage. U.S. Air Force jets based in Jordan and in Saudi Arabia coordinated with French, Jordanian and British Air Force fighters to ****** down more than 80 drones.

Iran telegraphed that strike in advance, giving the Pentagon sufficient time to move additional combat aircraft and Navy ships into place while U.S. commanders negotiated access to airspace for fighter jets and coordinated air defense batteries on the ground to help defend *******.

It is unclear whether ******* and its allies will have that much time to prepare for any new round of major Iranian attacks, officials said.

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