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[Text/Observer Network Wang Shichun] According to a report on the website of the U.S. Naval Institute on August 3, the U.S. Department of Defense announced on August 2 local time that in order to maintain the presence of aircraft carrier strike groups in the Middle East, the U.S. Navy's "Lincoln" aircraft carrier (CVN-72) is located in the 3rd Aircraft Carrier Strike Group (CSG-3) will replace the "Roosevelt" aircraft carrier (CVN-72) The 9th Aircraft Carrier Strike Group (CSG-9) is deployed in the Middle East.

U.S. Defense Secretary Austin also said he had ordered the U.S. European Command and the U.S. Central Command to prepare additional ballistic missile defense cruisers andDestroyer, and take measures to strengthen the deployment of more land-based ballistic missile defense systems to respond to Iranian attacks.

Since the USS Washington has still not gone to Japan, the US military has once again fallen into an "aircraft carrier vacuum" in the Asia-Pacific region.

USS Lincoln in Mariana Sea

At present, the aircraft carrier deployed in the Middle East is the USS Roosevelt. On June 22, the US Central Command stated that since the US Navy's USS Eisenhower (CVN-69) is currently on its way back, the USS Roosevelt (CVN-71) deployed in the Western Pacific will head to the Middle East after completing the scheduled exercise mission. The USS Roosevelt ended the exercise on June 29 and officially set off for the Middle East, entering the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca on July 7.

However, after arriving in the Middle East, the USS Roosevelt has been cruising near the Arabian Sea, and there is no open-source information proving that the USS Roosevelt has entered the Red Sea. Currently, according to open-source satellite images, the USS Roosevelt was located in the Gulf of Oman around August 3, about 67 kilometers east of the port of Sohar in Oman, and continued to stay at the gate of the Red Sea.

The delay of the USS Roosevelt in entering the Red Sea may be related to the fact that it is at the end of its deployment. The USS Roosevelt set out from San Diego, California on January 12 this year, with the Western Pacific Ocean as its destination. During this period, it appeared in the East China Sea and the South China Sea many times. When it ended the trilateral exercise between the United States, Japan and South Korea and left the Pacific Ocean through the Malacca Strait and entered the Pacific Ocean, it had been deployed at sea for nearly 6 months, and has been deployed for more than 200 days to date.

On July 15, the USS Lincoln, deployed in the Middle East, completed its training mission and was deployed. According to the practice of the US Navy, this aircraft carrier should go to the Asia-Pacific region to replace the USS Roosevelt that was heading to the Middle East. However, plans cannot keep up with changes, and the tense situation in the Middle East caused this Asia-Pacific aircraft carrier to go to the Middle East together with the USS Roosevelt.

At present, the chaos in the Middle East continues to involve the US Navy. The next aircraft carrier scheduled to be deployed in the Middle East is the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on the East Coast, which is still undergoing pre-deployment training near the East Coast. So far, the Middle East has tied down five US aircraft carriers, including the new Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Ford (CVN-78), USS Eisenhower, USS Roosevelt, USS Lincoln and USS Truman. It can be said that since October last year, as many as five of the seven aircraft carriers deployed by the US military around the world have gone to the Middle East.

The USS Lincoln went to the Middle East, but the USS Washington has not yet arrived. After the visit to South America, the USS Washington is still docked in San Diego Harbor and has not yet set off for the Yokosuka base in Japan. Meanwhile, the USS Carl Vinson has been staying in Hawaii after the Rim of the Pacific military exercise last week. The US Navy continues to have a carrier vacuum in the Western Pacific.

On July 24, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) arrived in San Diego, and was photographed with the USS George Washington (CVN-73).

On July 30, the USS Carl Vinson was at the USNI in Hawaii.

At present, the situation in the Middle East remains tense, and the United States and Israel are hyping up Iran's possible retaliatory attack. The Israeli Jerusalem Post reported that sources said Iran plans to launch an attack on Israel on August 12-13, the sacred "Temple Destruction Day". On August 4, US Secretary of State Blinken told the G7 that Iran and Hezbollah will start attacking Israel as early as Monday this week.

The U.S. Navy continues to be armed to defend Israel. Just this April, in response to Israel's attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria, Iranian destroyers played a key role in intercepting missiles and drones fired at Israel.

This article is an exclusive article of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.