US Navy shifts warships to Middle East, reduces Caribbean presence

The US Navy has pulled dozens of ships and aircraft into a large force buildup around the Middle East, even as indirect talks with Iran continue. As those assets moved toward the Central Command area, the service's presence in the Caribbean shrank markedly. About 10 warships and an aircraft carrier are positioned in the Middle East, with additional vessels on the region's outskirts.

Much of the force is operating in the Arabian Sea, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group of guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance, USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., and USS Michael Murphy. The Lincoln carries dozens of aircraft — fighters, electronic attack jets, and early warning planes — and some escorting destroyers are armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles; the carrier air wing also includes F-35s.

Three other destroyers, USS Mitscher, USS McFaul, and USS Pinckney, are in the Arabian Sea, USS Delbert D. Black is in the Red Sea, and littoral combat ships USS Santa Barbara, USS Tulsa, and USS Canberra are in the Arabian Gulf.

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