Inside hours of the horrific attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to offer Israel with whatever it needs to reply.
A second U.S. carrier strike group departs from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday. Scores of aircraft are heading to U.S. military bases across the Middle East. And special operations forces at the moment are assisting Israel’s military in planning and intelligence.
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The buildup reflects U.S. concern that the deadly fighting between Hamas and Israel could escalate right into a more dangerous regional conflict. So the first mission for those ships and warplanes for now could be to ascertain a force presence that deters Hezbollah, Iran or others from profiting from the situation. However the forces the U.S. sent are able to greater than that.
The U.S. can also be expediting the shipment of munitions and interceptors for Israel’s fight against Hamas.
A have a look at what weapons and options the U.S. military could provide:
Missiles for Iron Dome
The U.S. is providing some personnel and much-needed munitions to Israel. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that a small cell of special operations forces was now assisting Israel with intelligence and planning. They’ve not been tasked with hostage rescue, contrary to some reporting, a defense official said, but could in the event that they were requested to accomplish that.
The U.S. can also be getting U.S. defense corporations to expedite weapons orders by Israel that were already on the books. Chief amongst those is getting munitions for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system sped along.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that resupplying Iron Dome munitions and air defense systems was a right away priority.
“We’re surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome,” Biden said. “We’re going to be certain that that Israel doesn’t run out of those critical assets to defend its cities and its residents.”
Iron Dome’s missiles goal rockets that approach considered one of its cities. In keeping with Raytheon, Israel has 10 Iron Dome systems in place to guard its cities. Starting with Saturday’s attack, Hamas has fired greater than 5,000 rockets at Israel, most of which the system has been in a position to intercept, in accordance with the Israel Defense Forces.
Raytheon produces a lot of the missile components for Iron Dome within the U.S., and the Army has two Iron Dome systems in its stockpile.
Ships and aircraft
Some of the visible examples of the U.S. response was the announcement Sunday by the Pentagon to redirect the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to sail toward Israel. The carrier had just accomplished an exercise with the Italian Navy when the ship and its crew of about 5,000 were ordered to quickly sail to the Eastern Mediterranean.
The carrier provides a number of options. It’s a primary command and control operations center and may conduct information warfare. It could actually launch and get better E2-Hawkeye surveillance planes, recognized by their 24-foot (7-meter) diameter disc-shaped radar. The planes provide early warnings on missile launches, conduct surveillance and manage the airspace, detecting not only enemy aircraft but in addition directing U.S. movements.
An E2-C Hawkeye assigned to the Screwtops of Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 123 takes off from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), the flagship of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist third Class Anderson W. Branch/Released)
The Ford carries F-18 fighter jets that might fly intercepts or strike targets. The carrier also has significant capabilities for humanitarian work, including an onboard hospital with an ICU and emergency room and about 40 medics, surgeons and doctors. It sails with helicopters that could be used to airlift critical supplies in or victims out.
On Friday, the united statesDwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group will leave its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, and sail for the Mediterranean, potentially doubling the Navy’s Israel response.
The Eisenhower had already been scheduled to deploy to the Mediterranean on an everyday rotation, and the Ford is near the tip of its deployment. However the Biden administration may resolve to increase the Ford’s deployment and keep each strike groups on the market, White House spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday.
Air Force motion
The Pentagon has also ordered additional warplanes to bolster existing squadrons of A-10, F-15 and F-16 squadrons at bases throughout the Middle East and is able to add more if needed.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Tuesday at an Atlantic Council event that the service was doubling up by directing units that were about to come back home to stay in place and stay there together with their replacements.
The U.S. Air Force already has significant airpower within the region to conduct manned and unmanned operations, most notably in Syria where an Air Force F-16 last week was ordered to shoot down a Turkish drone that was posing a threat to U.S. ground forces operating there.
Kendall also said U.S. Air Force C-17s have landed in and departed from Israel because the attacks. The transport planes were picking up U.S. military personnel who were there for a military exercise that hadn’t began yet when the attacks began, the Air Force said in an announcement.
Neither the Air Force nor Central Command would comment on what additional missions U.S. airpower might tackle in response to the conflict.
Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press. She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group.