West coast carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) will remain in the Middle East as regional conflict intensifies, according to a Sunday Pentagon statement.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin instructed the carrier strike group to stay in U.S. Central Command as part of an increase of American forces in the region.
“The Secretary has directed that the [Lincoln CSG] remain in the USCENTCOM theater and that the [Wasp Amphibious Ready Group] will continue to operate in the Eastern Mediterranean,” reads the statement.
“This afloat posture is complemented by [Department of Defense’s] elevated fighter and attack squadron presence, including F-22, F-15E, F-16 and A-10 aircraft, and we will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities in the coming days.”
Since June, USS Wasp (LHD-10), USS New York (LPD-21) and USS Oak Hill (LSD-51) with the embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been on station in the Eastern Mediterranean in the event of a non-combatant evacuation operation from Lebanon, several defense officials have confirmed to USNI News over the last several months. Evacuating civilians from conflict zones is one of the major missions Marine Expeditionary Units train for.
The announcement of Lincoln remaining in the Middle East follows the Sept. 23rd deployment of the Harry S. Truman carrier strike group from the East Coast. USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), its escorts and the embarked Carrier Air Wing 1 are currently crossing the Atlantic and could be in the Mediterranean Sea later this week, USNI News understands.
Truman was set to relieve Lincoln and allow the San Diego carrier to return to operations in the Western Pacific. Lincoln moved to U.S. Central Command last month to relieve USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), its escorts and the embarked Carrier Airwing 11 after the Roosevelt CSG was retasked to support operations in the Middle East. Roosevelt is headed back to its San Diego homeport after more than eight and a half months deployed.
As of last week, Lincoln was operating in the Arabian Sea.
In addition to the Wasp ARG and the Lincoln CSG, the U.S. has several independently deployed guided-missile destroyers in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea to protect land and sea targets from attacks from drones and cruise and ballistic missiles.
On Friday, three U.S. warships came under attack from Houthi drones and missiles while sailing through the Bab el Mandeb strait from the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea.
Guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance (DDG-111), USS Stockdale (DDG-106) and Littoral Combat Ship USS Indianapolis (LCS-17) were attacked while transiting the strait, U.S. officials confirmed to USNI News on Friday.
“We did see a complex attack launched from the Houthis that ranged from cruise missiles and [one way attack drones],” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Friday.
“My understanding is that those were either engaged in, shot down or failed.”
Keeping Lincoln following reports an Israeli airstrike killed the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a Beirut suburb on Friday during a meeting of Hezbollah leaders, according to a report in The Associated Press. CNN reported the attack also killed Abbas Nilforoushan a senior leader of Iran’s sectarian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Israel and Hezbollah forces traded strikes over the weekend. Israeli forces may have also attacked Houthi forces in the Yemeni city of Hodeidah, according to The Times of Israel.
