Satellite Photos Show US Carrier Strike Groups in Middle East Hotspot

Latest satellite images appeared to show two United States Navy carrier strike groups were operating in different areas of waters in the Middle East amid rising tensions between its ally Israel and Iran.

Both the West Coast-based American carrier strike groups, led by USS Theodore Roosevelt and its sister ship, USS Abraham Lincoln, were retasked from scheduled deployments in the Western Pacific Ocean as part of the Pentagon’s plan of increasing military presence in the Middle East.

The repositioning of the U.S. aircraft carriers came as the July 31 killing of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, sparked Iranian threats of retaliation against Israel. An exchange of fire between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group on August 25 also increased tensions.

These two 100,000-ton nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carriers can carry over 60 combat aircraft of various types, including fighter jets, airborne early warning aircraft, and helicopters.

One of the fighter jet squadrons embarked on the Abraham Lincoln operates the fifth-generation, stealthy F-35C “Lightning II,” which is being viewed as the most advanced carrier-based aircraft.

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Open-source satellite imagery captured on Tuesday appeared to show the Theodore Roosevelt in the Gulf of Oman, which lies between the Arabian Sea to the east and the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf to the west. The aircraft carrier has been operating in the Middle East since July 12.

The Abraham Lincoln was underway in the Gulf of Aden on Monday and heading toward the Red Sea with three destroyer escorts. This is the first time a U.S. Navy carrier strike group was spotted in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea since USS Dwight D. Eisenhower left the region in June.

Abraham Lincoln’s movement comes after Yemen’s Houthi rebels, an Iran-aligned armed group, continued their attacks on the Red Sea shipping. Oil tanker MV Sounion, carrying a million barrels of crude oil, has been on fire after a Houthi attack on August 21.

The U.S. Naval Institute-run USNI News, which tracks ships of the U.S. Navy, also confirmed the current locations of the two aircraft carriers on Tuesday. Destroyers USS John S. McCain and USS Daniel Inouye are assigned to the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, according to the report.

Meanwhile, three destroyers are under the command of the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group. They are USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., USS Spruance, and USS O’Kane, USNI News reported. It was not immediately clear whether they were the destroyer escorts spotted by satellite imagery.

The U.S. Navy did not disclose the locations of the two aircraft carriers in the Middle East out of concern for operations security. Photos published by the Navy revealed the relevant information ambiguously, saying the ships were operating in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

The Central Command oversees American military operations in the Middle East, and its area of responsibility spans 4 million square miles. U.S. naval ships operating in the region are under the command of the Fifth Fleet, which has 2.5 million square miles of waters as its area of operations.

The surging presence of aircraft carriers to the Middle East has left a “carrier gap” in the Western Pacific Ocean to keep China and North Korea at bay. The Pentagon said it remained appropriately postured for emergencies in Asia and the Middle East, saying “we can walk and chew gum at the same time.”