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Akbar Novruz

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The United States has begun preparations to deploy a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East as President Donald Trump weighs a potential military response against Iran, AzerNEWS reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that US defense officials have been instructed to prepare an additional carrier strike group for possible deployment to the region. If authorized, it would join the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which is already operating in the Middle East.

According to the report, the order to deploy could be issued at short notice, although no final decision has yet been made and plans remain subject to change. One US official told the newspaper that the Pentagon is preparing a carrier for deployment within two weeks, likely from the US East Coast.

The aircraft carrier expected to be sent is the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), the newest vessel of the Nimitz class. The carrier is currently operating in the Atlantic Ocean, where it is completing a series of training exercises off the coast of Virginia. Officials indicated that these exercises could be accelerated if a deployment order is issued.

Military planners estimate that it would take approximately two weeks for the USS George H.W. Bush and its strike group to reach the US Central Command area of responsibility and become fully operational.

If a deployment order were issued today, it would still probably be mid-March before an East Coast-based CSG could arrive on station. Even with truncated pre-deployment workups, the ships would have to travel across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea or even further through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea.

Another CSG, with its embarked tactical aircraft and Aegis-equipped escorts, would certainly bolster the forces massing in the region for a potential conflict with Iran. As we have frequently pointed out, there is not enough tactical airpower there now for a major sustained operation. A second CSG would be provide a significant help.

While no decision has yet to be made about a second CSG, the journey of F-35A stealth fighters from the Vermont Air National Guard (VANG) has apparently continued toward the Middle East. There are indications that six of the jets, which online flight tracking data shows took off from Lakenheath Air Base in the U.K. on Wednesday morning, were headed to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Wednesday.