US defense chief orders fighter jets, missile defense systems to Middle East

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the deployment of additional fighter jets along with additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to Europe and the Middle East in response to recent Iranian threats.

“To that end, Secretary Austin has ordered adjustments to US military posture designed to improve US force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said.

Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group to maintain a strike group presence in the Middle East,

The Pentagon is also taking steps to prepare to deploy additional land-based BMD systems.

Singh said another fighter squadron would be sent to the Middle East to reinforce defensive air support capabilities.

There are around 30,000 US troops in the Middle East, the largest base being Qatar’s Al-Udeid. The Pentagon ordered several warships and other military assets to the Middle East shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The main reason was said to be a deterrence message to Iran or other groups it backs from opening a second front.

Earlier this week, a US official confirmed to Al Arabiya English that there are at least 12 American warships in the region, including the Roosevelt aircraft carrier.

“These posture adjustments add to the broad range of capabilities the US military maintains in the region, including the USS WASP Amphibious Ready Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit (ARG/MEU) operating in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Singh said in a statement. “The Department of Defense continues to take steps to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or Iran’s partners and proxies,” she added.

Both Iran and the Lebanese militant group vowed to retaliate against Israel and “those who are behind” it for the assassination of two top officials in Hezbollah and Hamas.

US officials said they were given a heads-up shortly before the Israeli operation killed Hezbollah’s Fuad Shukr in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Israel said the attack was a response to a rocket that hit a football field in the occupied Golan Heights and killed several children last weekend. Hezbollah undoubtedly fired the missile, according to US officials, but they believe it mistakenly targeted the football field. Hezbollah continues to deny that it launched the rocket.

Following the killing of Shukr, American troops in the region were already bracing for potential attacks in Iraq and Syria.

Then came the second assassination, which killed a top Hamas official, Ismail Haniyeh. The political leader of Hamas was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of the new Iranian president. US officials believe Israel was behind Haniyeh’s killing but also say they were not involved. Israel has not claimed responsibility.

Shukr and Haniyeh were designated by the US as terrorists.The former was accused of playing a central role in the Oct. 23, 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 US servicemembers.

“The enemy, and those who are behind the enemy, must await our inevitable response,” Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said Thursday. “You do not know what red lines you crossed.” Iran made similar comments.

American forces in the Middle East have prepared themselves, specifically in Iraq and Syria, to fend off attacks from Iran-backed militias in both countries.

Despite the surge in US assets and forces to the region, the Pentagon said Washington remains focused on deescalating tensions and pushing for a ceasefire-hostage deal to end the war in Gaza.

Washington has announced some $12 billion in military aid to Israel since the start of the war. On the other hand, the US has provided ready-to-eat meals and other forms of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where close to 40,000 people have been killed during the Israeli bombardment. It is unclear how many of those killed were Hamas militants or members, but a majority of the 40,000 have been innocent men, women and children. The Hamas attack on Oct. 7, one of the deadliest Israel has ever witnessed, killed an estimated 1,200 people.