WASHINGTON: The US military had withdrawn its only aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East but stressed that it maintains ample capabilities to deal with various threats and contingencies.
Arab media reports that the US announced the deployment of additional ballistic missile defence destroyers, fighter squadron and tanker aircraft, and several B-52 long-range strike bombers to the region as preparations commenced for the Abe to depart.
The Abe arrived in the Middle East in August after US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin ordered it to accelerate its transit to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and maintain a presence in the region.
USS Abraham Lincoln, one of 11 aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy, has left the Middle East and entered the Seventh Fleet’s area of operations, which covers the Western Pacific Ocean and the Eastern Indian Ocean, according to the U.S. Naval Institute’s USNI News.
Newsweek reports that the “flattop” has been operating in the Middle East since late August when the Pentagon retasked it from its scheduled Seventh Fleet deployment. Its sister ship, USS Theodore Roosevelt, was also in the region for a surge deployment from mid-July to mid-September.
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Tensions continue to boil in the Middle East, with Israel’s war in Gaza raging and another full-blown war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah broke out in September.
Washington has deployed additional assets to the region since the Gaza war erupted after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. This has included an aircraft carrier presence in and around the Red Sea, primarily to fend off Houthi attacks from Yemen against commercial and merchant vessels.
But US officials say there are enough capabilities to continue shooting down Houthi drones and missiles. They also say the air power is enough to launch attacks inside of Yemen to hit Houthi weapons depots and other targets.
US Air Force B-2 bombers were utilized in last month’s strikes against five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi areas of Yemen. Those bombers came from the US for the specific operation.
Another round of US military strikes was conducted on several Houthi facilities in Yemen that contained advanced conventional weapons earlier this month.
Despite the withdrawal of the aircraft carrier, the US says it maintains ample assets in the region. “We maintain significant firepower in the Central Command Area of Responsibility to include F-16s, F-15s, and several B-52 bombers as well,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.
“So, we have a significant posture there,” she said.
