ALBAWABA - The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is being moved from the Red Sea to the eastern Mediterranean amid rising tensions between Lebanon and Israel. A Pentagon Navy actions press office source told Sky News Arabia that the Eisenhower's new duty is to assist possible military actions as Lebanon and Israel's situation unfolds.
A regional strategic adjustment of U.S. troops includes this action. The USNI confirmed that the USS Theodore Roosevelt will replace the Eisenhower in the Red Sea.
An American official said the Eisenhower and its accompanying cruisers would go to the Mediterranean. The U.S. Fifth Fleet will keep the carrier's destroyers. A C-2A Greyhound from Bahrain's Fifth Fleet station to the Mediterranean has been tracked, signifying its redeployment.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declined to prolong the Eisenhower's deployment a third time. Pentagon: The carrier has been deployed for almost eight months, marking it the longest-serving U.S. carrier in recent years.
It is uncertain which Pacific-based aircraft carrier will replace the Eisenhower in the Middle East. USNI News reports that the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), which deployed from San Diego in January, is the closest possibility. USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) from the East Coast is also preparing for deployment this summer.
Pacific-based aircraft carriers last deployed to the Middle East in 2021 after the U.S. departure from Afghanistan. The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) proceeded from Japan to the northern Arabian Sea to cover the U.S. withdrawal.
The Eisenhower was sent on October 13 to respond to Houthi assaults on commercial boats and Israel-Hamas conflict. The carrier's relocation comes amid escalating Hezbollah-Israel tensions, according to Sky News Arabia.
Defense Secretary Austin prolonged Eisenhower's deployment in late May. USNI reports that since February 2021, when the Russia-Ukraine conflict began, U.S. aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean or Red Sea have been extended many times to maintain American presence.
The Eisenhower and its ships intercepted Houthi drones and munitions in the Red Sea. Recently, Eisenhower and USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) planes helped evacuate sailors from Houthi-attacked commercial ships.
