The U.S. military is deploying more fighter aircraft to Southwest Asia and extending the deployment of other warplanes, Reuters reported today, citing three unnamed U.S. officials. One of the officials said the deployments include F-16, F-22, and F-35 fighter aircraft. The other two officials claimed that the deployment is “defensive in nature,” because it consists of fighter aircraft that can be used to shoot down drones. A fourth U.S. defense official on June 17 raised the possibility of the deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean of additional U.S. Navy warships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles.
Otherwise, the fleet of air refueling tankers that departed eastward from the U.S. on Sunday night, June 15, is reported to have landed in Europe, the bulk of the planes divided between Ramstein, Germany, and Morón, Spain, with the rest split between the United Kingdom, Estonia, and Greece.
At the same time, unnamed U.S. officials confirmed that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, accompanied by four guided-missile destroyers, is, indeed, on its way to Southwest Asia. “Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is heading to the Middle East without delay,” an unnamed U.S. official told The War Zone site. The U.S. official added that this is a scheduled deployment to replace the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group, which is currently on station in the Middle East. However, the official would not say when Vinson might now be expected to leave the region.
TWZ notes that Fox News has separately reported that the decision to send the Nimitz to the region, though previously planned, has been accelerated by multiple months, and that it and Vinson will be in the region together for at least a period of time.
