Renewed conflicts are popping off in Gaza, in Yemen, and possibly next in Lebanon once again. US Central Command has this month restarted air raids against Houthi positions in Yemen, having launched at least three successive waves of attacks last week, in operations which soon after were dubbed 'continuing'.
Now the Pentagon is beefing up the Navy's warship presence in the region. The Associated Press has reported that "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a rare move, is beefing up the Navy warship presence in the Middle East, ordering two aircraft carriers to be there next month as the US increases strikes on the Yemen-based Houthi rebels, according to a US official."
Typically there is only one carrier in the region, with two signifying a much greater war-readiness. As part of the move Hegseth signed orders to keep the USS Harry S. Truman in the Middle East for an additional month.
This despite the Houthis (Ansarallah movement) seeking to target the carrier as it traverses the Red Sea and regional waters. The Pentagon has yet to ever say that the carrier has been hit, or been close to getting struck - though the Houthis have claimed some five attempted recent drone and missile attacks on it.
"And Hegseth has ordered the USS Carl Vinson, which has been operating in the Pacific, to begin steaming toward the Middle East, which will extend its scheduled deployment by three months," the AP report continues.
"The Vinson is expected to arrive in the region early next month. It had been conducting exercises with Japanese and South Korean forces near the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan and was slated to head home to port in San Diego in three weeks," it adds.
This new carrier show of force in the Middle East region came within days of President Trump freshly warning that the Houthis will be completely annihilated if they don't immediately halt their drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea, and also as CENTCOM confirmed it is engaged in "continuous operations against Iran-back Houthi terrorists."
Below is a map showing the current distribution of US naval assets around the globe, courtesy of Stratfor.
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