US warplanes, ships and troops ready for Middle East if conflict spreads

WASHINGTON – The United States has maintained a heightened military presence in the Middle East for much of the past year, with about 40,000 troops, at least a dozen warships and four squadrons of Air Force fighter jets spread across the region, both to protect allies and to serve as a deterrent against attack, multiple U.S. officials said.

As attacks between Israel and Hezbollah have increased sharply this week, concerns are growing that the conflict could escalate into all-out war, even as Tel Aviv continues its nearly year-long battle against Hamas militants in Gaza.

Hezbollah says Israel has crossed a “red line” with explosive attacks on its communications equipment and has vowed to continue missile strikes it has launched since the Iran-backed Hamas militant group attacked Israel on October 7, sparking the war in Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has held several talks this week with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, declared the start of a “new phase” of the war, shifting its focus to the northern front against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

So far, the United States has not reported any increase or change in its troops following the latest attacks, and a reinforced force is already present in the region.

A military official said the additional resources have helped the United States patrol various conflict zones, including operations targeting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, defend Israel and counter threats from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea and launched ballistic missiles at Israel.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe U.S. troop movements and locations.

Here’s a look at the U.S. military presence in the Middle East:

Troops

In normal times, the U.S. Central Command, which covers the entire Middle East, has about 34,000 troops. That number grew in the first months of the war between Israel and Hamas to about 40,000, thanks to the dispatch of additional ships and planes.

A few weeks ago, the total number of aircraft carriers reached nearly 50,000 when Austin ordered two aircraft carriers and their accompanying warships to remain in the region as tensions rose between Israel and Lebanon. One carrier strike group has since left the region and headed to the Asia-Pacific region.

This increased presence is intended both to help defend Israel and to protect U.S. and allied personnel and assets.

Navy warships are scattered across the region, from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Oman, and air force and navy fighter jets are strategically based in multiple locations to be better prepared to respond to any attack.

Warships

The United States now has only one aircraft carrier in the region. Austin has extended its carrier deployment several times over the past year, so that on a few occasions there has been the rare presence of two carriers at once.

U.S. military commanders have long argued that the presence of a formidable aircraft carrier — with its array of fighter jets, surveillance planes and sophisticated missiles — is a powerful deterrent against Iran.

The USS Abraham Lincoln and its three destroyers are in the Gulf of Oman, while two U.S. Navy destroyers are in the Red Sea. The guided-missile submarine USS Georgia, which Austin sent to the region last month, was in the Red Sea and remains under U.S. Central Command, but officials declined to say where.

There are six U.S. warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, including the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit on board. And three Navy destroyers are in the area.

A half-dozen F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Abraham Lincoln have been moved to a land base in the area. Officials declined to specify where.

Aircraft

The Air Force last month sent an additional squadron of advanced F-22 fighters, bringing the total number of land-based fighter squadrons in the Middle East to four.

The force also includes a squadron of A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft, F-15E Strike Eagles and F-16 fighter jets. The Air Force did not specify which country the aircraft originate from.

The addition of the F-22 fighter jets gives U.S. forces a hard-to-detect aircraft with a sophisticated suite of sensors to neutralize enemy air defenses and conduct electronic attacks. The F-22 can also act as a “quarterback,” organizing other warplanes into an operation.

But the United States also showed in February that it does not need Middle East-based aircraft to attack targets. In February, two B-1 bombers took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas and flew more than 30 hours on a round-trip mission that hit 85 targets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force in Iraq and Syria in response to an attack by IRGC-backed militias that killed three American service members.