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The United States operates 11 carrier strike groups, and has deployed them repeatedly across the globe over the decades in a show of force against mostly smaller, militarily weaker nations. US forces in the Mediterranean operate under the Sixth Fleet – headquartered in Naples, Italy, and have a combined strength of up to 40 ships and 175 aircraft.
The USS Truman carrier strike group has been deployed to the Mediterranean, with Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro saying its mission includes “deterring” Russia and implementing a potential no-fly zone over Ukraine, should President Biden give the order to establish one.
“There are numerous Russian ships and subs in the Mediterranean today and that’s why it’s important for NATO to have an equal presence, to deter them. The only thing that Putin understands is strength”, Del Toro said, speaking to Politico.
The current tensions between Russia and NATO over Ukraine aren’t the first time the US has deployed a carrier strike group in the Med as a show of force against Moscow. In the spring of 2014, in the wake of the victory of the US and EU-backed Maidan coup in Kiev and tensions between Russia and NATO over the fate of Crimea, Washington deployed another Nimitz-class carrier, the George H.W. Bush, near the peninsula off southern Turkey.
A growing number of US lawmakers has called for the introduction of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, notwithstanding the danger of provoking a direct military confrontation with Russia.
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