The United States has sent two attack groups with their respective aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean, near Israel, the world’s largest air-naval force equivalent to the firepower of a single country. Last week the Pentagon announced the deployment of the USS Gerald Ford, the US Navy’s most modern and advanced aircraft carrier, and on Friday it gave orders for the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike group to go to the Middle East from its base in Norfolk, Virginia. With this military deployment, the White House wants to prevent at all costs the conflict between Israel and Hamas from spreading throughout the region, preventing the possible entry of Hezbollah and Iran into open confrontations against the State of the Jews.
Few countries have air forces the size of a US carrier strike group, which includes up to 70 aircraft. And more than that no army in the world can deploy such air-naval power anywhere in the world between 24 and 48 hours.
When the USS Eisenhower arrives in Israel, the US will have the following naval assets in the area:
- Guided missile cruiser, USS Philippine Sea
- Guided missile destroyers, USS Gavel and USS Mason
- Nine aircraft squadrons
- The USS Ford aircraft carrier, which includes eight squadrons of attack and support aircraft.
- Guided missile cruiser, USS Normandy
- Guided missile destroyers, USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney and USS Roosevelt.
What is an aircraft carrier strike group?
A carrier strike group is a battle group with naval air assets of which the aircraft carrier is the centerpiece. In addition to the aircraft carrier, it includes two or three destroyers – with sophisticated air defense systems – and a guided missile cruiser. The cruiser is the primary escort and coordinates the carrier’s defense, especially against air threats. The CSG also consists of several squadrons of fighter aircraft and a nuclear-powered attack submarine that protects the rest of the group from underground threats.
The Carrier Strike Group (CSG) has enough firepower to rival any air force in the country. In total it consists of about 7,500 soldiers and has air defense, anti-submarine and maritime denial capabilities.
What is its mission and what objectives can it attack?
It has all the necessary capabilities to attack targets 1,500 kilometers away. “They can defend themselves against air, missile and submarine attacks, and maintain maritime security in an area of ​​hundreds of square miles,” explained Bryan Clark, a US Navy official, in Business Information.
The mission of an aircraft carrier strike group is to “maintain air, sea and submarine control; respond to crises and protect US interests anywhere, anytime,” explains Huntington Ingalls Industries, which sole builder of US Navy aircraft carriers.
How many and what types of containers are included in it?
The naval power of a strike group includes five types of ships
- Nuclear powered aircraft carrier
- replenishment ship
- Cruise ships
- Destroyers
- submarine
What is an air force battle group?
- Fighter fighter, which can be F/A-18E/F and F-35.
- EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
- Grumman E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft.
- American Greyhound transport plane.
- Helicopters.
How many aircraft carrier strike groups are there in the US?
The United States Navy has 11 aircraft carrier strike groups. Ten are based in the United States and one in Japan, where the Pentagon has stationed thousands of troops since the end of World War II.
