An Air Force long-range bomber and attack aircraft from the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln carried out a series of “simulated strike operations” and other offensive military drills in the Arabian Sea over the weekend in an effort to curb Iranian aggression in the region.
A B-52 Stratofortress from the U.S. Air Force’s 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron teamed up with F/A-18 Super Hornets and E-2D Growler electronic warfare planes from the U.S.S. Lincoln’s Carrier Air Wing 7 to “conducted several joint training evolutions designed to improve operational tactics in several warfare areas,” says a U.S. Central Command statement.
As part of those live-fire combat drills, which began June 1, U.S. fighter and bomber aircraft conducted “simulated strike operations in defense of a national asset,” the command statement says. The drills were “an incredible demonstration of how our military can to rapidly join capabilities to enhance our lethality and our ability to respond to any threat when called upon,” Carrier Air Wing Commander Navy Capt. William Reed said in the statement.
The Pentagon deployed the U.S.S. Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and the Air Force bomber task force into the Arabian See, in response to credible threats from Iranian proxies to U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq and elsewhere across the region.
Late last month, the Trump White House approved a new 1,500-troop deployment to the Middle East, in a further show of force toward Tehran’s expanding influence in the region. The new troop deployment included a military engineering unit, an Air Force fighter squadron, drone units and additional aerial intelligence aircraft.
The move represents “a prudent defensive measure and intended to reduce the possibility of future hostilities,” with Tehran and its regional allies, acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said in May.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.