Arms Airlift to Israel, Bombers in Jordan, Two Carriers: U.S. Deploying More Forces to Mideast
Open source flight tracking and satellite imagery show advanced armaments, aerial defenses, and dozens of fighter-bombers, intelligence gathering platforms and heavy cargolifters are deployed to the region - to try to deter Iran and Hezbollah from opening up a second front in Israel’s north
The Biden administration is deploying more offensive forces into the Middle East, to back Israel and attempt to deter Iran and Hezbollah from opening a second front on Israel’s north.
Last week, the United States deployed the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to the eastern Mediterranean. The USS Ford carries about 80 combat aircraft, electronic warfare and intelligence planes. It is accompanied by five advanced missile-guided ships, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of hitting targets inside Iran. According to satellite images, the USS Ford is about 180 kilometers south-west of Cyprus. P-8 maritime reconnaissance aircraft with anti-submarine, anti-ship capabilities are patrolling around the group.
The carrier strike group comes with sophisticated air defense systems that could make an important contribution to protecting Israel’s strategic facilities on sea and on land. Hezbollah is believed to have an arsenal of more than 100,000 rockets and missiles.
Over the weekend, a second carrier strike group, led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, was dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean and is due to arrive later this month.
The combination of U.S. and Israeli defense systems is not new. During the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. Patriot anti-missile teams arrived in Israel to intercept Scud missiles being fired at Israel by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Since 2001, Israel and the U.S. have conducted periodic exercises in which they jointly undertake a range of interception scenarios and practice integrating the two countries’ different systems.
The U.S. fleet, if it is brought into action, will provide an additional layer of defense to Israel's (which includes Iron Dome, David's Sling, Patriots, the Arrow and the Arrow 3). Without a doubt, they will help a lot in the event that a second front opens against Hezbollah.
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But by placing them off the coast of Lebanon, the U.S. is also giving itself a lever to restrain Israel if the Biden administration feels that its operations in Gaza or Lebanon are becoming excessive. There is a precedent for this two-pronged goal. During the Gulf War, the U.S. sent Patriots to Israel in exchange for Israel's agreement not to attack Iraq itself in response to the Scud fire. Washington believed that such a move might endanger the integrity of the international coalition the U.S. had created to oppose Iraq, which included Arab countries.
Since the Hamas attack on October 7, the U.S. has dispatched a large number of jets to the Middle East in order to “bolster the U.S. defense posture,” as the U.S Central Command has put it.
A squadron of U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle bombers based in Britain was deployed over the weekend at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base east of the Jordanian capital of Amman. Another squadron of A-10 attack aircraft has also been deployed there.
An impressive airlift to Israel should be added to this list. According to online aviation tracking websites, at least 11 U.S. C-17 heavy-transport aircraft landed over the past 10 days at Israel's Ben Gurion airport and Israeli Air Force’s Nevatim base. Two of them were also used by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during their visits here.
In addition, an Israeli cargo plane made two flights to Dover Air Force Base in the U.S. According to an Israel Defense Forces spokesman, it carried "advanced ammunition designed to allow significant strikes and to prepare for additional scenarios." According to reports from the U.S., Washington has provided Israel with additional Iron Dome interceptors, advanced guided weaponry and bunker-busting bombs.
Six additional planes, operated on behalf of The U.S. Transportation Command, have also landed in Israel and are apparently being used to help to evacuate citizens and government employees and their families.
In addition to fighter and transport aircraft, two Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft belonging to the U.S. and British air forces have been operating off the coast of Israel in recent days. Coming from the U.S. and Britain, these are SIGINT (signal intelligence) aircraft used for gathering intel across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including eavesdropping, geolocation and electronic warfare.