Hurry up. America’s top shooters are moving into position to target Iran. With Sunday night’s announcement hastening the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and moving the submarine USS Georgia under U.S. Central Command’s control, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is making sure U.S. Central Command is prepared to attack Iran, and/or its proxies, if Tehran strikes Israel in the next few days.
Air Force F-22 fighter jet pilots have already unpacked their bags at a Middle East base where they arrived Aug 8. Here are more top shooters under Central Command’s operational control – that we know of.
The guided missile submarine USS Georgia
It’s very unusual for the Pentagon to make announcements about secretive submarines. But then, theUSS Georgia is a very special vessel. Powered by a nuclear reactor, the USS Georgia began life as an Ohio-class ‘boomer’ designed to carry nuclear weapons, then underwent a high-tech conversion into a conventional guided-missile attack submarine. Now she can carry an astounding 154 precision Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles. And SEAL teams with mini-submarines. Add in a highly advanced communication suite, and USS Georgia can stare down Iran all by herself.
The USS Georgia was already on exercises in Europe and is positioning in the Eastern Mediterranean. Her Tomahawk missiles have roughly a 1,000-mile range, which equates to good coverage well into Iran. The most modern Tomahawks also accept targeting updates while in flight, giving commanders maximum flexibility to act on fresh intelligence.
Eight U.S. Navy destroyers
That’s six in the Persian Gulf, and two more in the Red Sea, per a count from the Washington Post on Aug. 2. Crews from ships like USS Laboon have been whacking Houthi drones, missiles and unmanned boats for months. The DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers can fire Tomahawks, too, as but the destroyers will have some of their vertical launch tubes loaded with Standard Missiles for air defense across the region, as seen when Iran attacked Israel back in April.
Two aircraft carriers
Austin ordered the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to speed up its transit from the Pacific to the Middle East, where the USS Theodore Roosevelt is already running sustained flight operations. Nuclear-powered carriers can charge ahead at 35 knots per hour without slacking off, since they don’t refuel. The Middle East crisis has compelled Central Command to keep a carrier in the Red Sea area almost non-stop for 10 months and it has required four carriers – Ford, Eisenhower, Roosevelt and Lincoln – to meet the tasking. Moving the Lincoln actually leaves the Navy one carrier short in the Pacific.
A squadron of F-35C carrier jets flown by Marines
Austin touted the F-35Cs on the Lincoln by name on Sunday, because these stealthy, carrier-based jets have tremendous radar and other sensor capabilities known to intimidate Iran. In an unusual twist, it’s a U.S. Marine Corps squadron flying the F-35Cs. Other Marines fly the F-35B vertical take-off and landing variant with amphibious ships. But this squadron, the ‘Black Knights’ of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron VMFA 314, trains and flies as part of Carrier Air Wing 9. (Don’t look so shocked. Marines flew from carriers in World War II and Korea.)
F/A-18EF Superhornets
Yes, the very jet flown by Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’ Carrier Air Wing 11 on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt has three F/A-18E squadrons. They have been busy day and night with air patrols against Houthi aggression in the Red Sea and doing their part in knocking out Houthi drones, missiles and unmanned boats.
Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles
This ground-attack variant of the F-15 air superiority fighter is affectionately known as the ‘Mud Eagle’ and has been operating quietly in theater for ages. The F-15Es are true fighter-bombers, and their most experienced pilots have thousands of combat hours from the anti-ISIS war. The two-seat F-15Es carry air-to-air missiles, a gun and ‘any nuclear or conventional weapon in the USAF inventory.’ Just so you know, Iran.
Austin’s choice to deploy America’s top of the line strike options serves two purposes. The first, obviously, is to deter Iran and constrain Iran’s tactical options as the mullahs mull their retaliation plans. But the specific choice of these forces is to provide Central Command with capability for sustained, precision strikes against military targets in Iran or among Iran’s militia groups.
Don’t forget that U.S. B-2 bombers can reach any spot on the globe. Also, B-1 bombers were used by Central Command in attacks on Syrian targets. I would not be surprised to see the B-1s in action again with their joint stand-off missiles.
Beyond this, expect Britain, France, regional allies like Jordan, and others to have forces in play.
Of course, China is taking note of this firepower display. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi issued a statement on Saturday supporting Iran’s ‘dignity’ and right to self-defense, whatever that means. Iran is the center of Mideast terror and China is Iran’s top ally.
Gen. Erik Kurilla at U.S. Central Command will soon have all he needs to defend, deter or strike back.
As they strive to keep a lid on this crisis, we owe a big debt of gratitude to the American men and women making these crisis deployments in the Middle East.