US sends aircraft carrier Harry Truman to Middle East

The US Navy said the carrier strike group led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Harry Truman had left the naval base in Norfolk, Virginia, and was heading for the Middle East.

The group also includes the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser Gettysburg and two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, Stout and Jason Dunham. The ships have a crew of 6,500 sailors. There are dozens of combat aircraft and hundreds of missiles on board.

“The group is moving to relieve the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which has spent nine months in the region, highlighting the need for our continued presence in the region amid escalating international tensions,” said Adm. Darryl Caudle, commander of Naval Forces.

On September 11, it became known that the US Department of Defense had decided to leave only one of the two carrier strike groups in the Middle East. The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt is returning to its home base in Norfolk, Virginia.

There was only one carrier strike group left in the Middle East, led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. However, the US administration decided that these forces were insufficient in the current circumstances.