The U.S. military has ordered the dispatch of additional U.S. Air Force jets to the Middle East after Israel launched a punitive attack on Lebanon’s Hezbollah, killing the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, the U.S. says. officials told Air & Space Force Magazine.
The US plans to send three more fighter and attack aircraft squadrons to the region: an F-16 Fighting Falcon squadron, an F-15E Strike Eagle squadron, and an A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron. Air & Space Force Magazine reported. The United States is also expanding its current aircraft fleet deployment in the Middle East to increase the total number of fighter and attack aircraft in the region, officials said.
The United States has pledged to protect Israel from Iranian retaliation for supporting Hezbollah over Nasrallah’s killing. American F-15Es and F-16s helped Israel shoot down about 80 drones and fend off a major missile and drone attack by Iran in April.
The United States already has F-22 air superiority fighters in the Middle East, sending them to the region in August. They will continue to expand.
The Pentagon previously announced it would maintain the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln Strike Group, carrying F-35C Lightning II fighters and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters, in the Middle East.
Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon spokeswoman, told reporters on September 30 that more aircraft and “several thousand more” U.S. military personnel were heading to the region.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said, “We believe that is the best way to ensure that our forces in the region have the protection they need and, of course, to defend Israel if necessary.” “We have a lot of people working with us,” Singh said.
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman deployed from Virginia last week and is headed to the Mediterranean. The amphibious assault ship Wasp, carrying AV-8 Harrier attack aircraft, V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, and approximately 2,200 Marines and sailors from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“This floating position will be complemented by the presence of the Department of Defense’s advanced fighter and attack squadrons, including F-22, F-15E, F-16, and A-10 aircraft, and we will continue to deploy defense air support in the coming days. “We will further strengthen our capabilities,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Rider said in a Sept. 29 statement.
F-16s from the 510th Fighter Squadron at Aviano Air Force Base, Italy, and F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, first deployed to the region in April of this year.
After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the United States increased the number of fighters in the region by temporarily extending the deployment of existing troops and arranging for them to overlap with incoming troops. The US made a similar move in April, before Iran attacked Israel.
Singh acknowledged that the Pentagon is extending the deployment of current forces while bringing in new aircraft as part of the region’s air power buildup.
“This includes the expansion of a certain number of troops already deployed in the Middle East region, and the troops scheduled to be brought into theater to replace them will instead be replaced by troops already deployed in the region. This will strengthen the existing forces,” Singh told reporters.
“The Secretary also strengthened readiness for the deployment of additional U.S. troops and increased readiness to respond to a variety of contingencies. “We will ensure the protection of U.S. forces operating in the United States,” she said. Added.
The United States had already sent a small number of additional ground forces to the area before Israel killed Nasrallah in an Israeli Air Force F-15I airstrike on September 27.
