Two US aircraft carriers to stay in Middle East after Hezbollah attack

The Pentagon has extended the deployment of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group after a largely failed attack by the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah on Israel over the weekend.

Choosing to keep the second carrier in the Middle East means there will now be two carriers and their warships available for U.S. Central Command amid the threat of a full regional war erupting.

The TR arrived in the Middle East in early July, while fellow carrier Abraham Lincoln steamed into the region last week.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the decision in a statement over the weekend.

Theodore Roosevelt replaced the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose deployment to the region had itself been extended multiple times, earlier this summer .

The extensions are part of America’s surge in forces to the region this month in an attempt to avert a larger conflict between Israel and Iran and its proxies.

In addition to Lincoln, another fighter jet squadron, and other assets have also been rushed to the region. The Georgia, a ballistic missile submarine, is still on its way to CENTCOM, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Monday.

Ryder didn’t say how long the Roosevelt would be extended or exactly when the decision was made, only saying Austin chose to do so over the weekend.

The surge seeks to provide some gray-hull deterrence after Israel launched two strikes in late July that heightened regional tensions — one in Lebanon’s capital that came in retaliation for an earlier strike from Hezbollah, and another in Tehran, killing the political leader of Hamas.

Since then, the U.S. and its partners in the region have been bracing for return strikes from Hezbollah and Iran. The first came this weekend in an attack involving more than 230 rockets fired from Lebanon, according to the Israeli military . Preemptive strikes from Israel mainly thwarted the salvo, and both sides signaled that they were deescalating afterward.

When asked in a morning press conference with reporters Monday whether America’s surge in forces to the region had worked as intended, Ryder agreed.

“I think that the additional forces in the theater send a very clear message to all actors in the region that were serious when it comes to supporting the defense of Israel,” he said.

Ryder said the U.S. had helped Israel spot incoming rockets from Hezbollah but hadn’t participated in Israel’s preemptive strikes in Lebanon. Israel didn’t need kinetic support, Ryder said, but the U.S. is prepared to aid in its defense going forward.

“We continue to assess that there is a threat of attack” from Iran, Ryder said.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

在伊朗支持的黎巴嫩真主党周末对以色列发动的袭击基本失败后，五角大楼延长了“西奥多·罗斯福”号航空母舰及其打击群的部署期限。

选择将第二艘航母留在中东意味着，在地区全面战争爆发的威胁下，美国中央司令部现在将有两艘航母及其战舰可供使用。

“罗斯福”号航母于7月初抵达中东，而另一艘航母“亚伯拉罕·林肯”号则于上周驶入该地区。

国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀在周末的一份声明中宣布了这一决定。

今年夏天早些时候，西奥多·罗斯福号航母取代了德怀特·D·艾森豪威尔号航母，后者在该地区的部署时间已经多次延长。

此次扩充是美国本月向该地区增兵的一部分，旨在避免以色列与伊朗及其代理人之间发生更大规模的冲突。

除了“林肯”号航母外，另一个战斗机中队和其他装备也已紧急部署到该地区。五角大楼新闻秘书、空军少将帕特·赖德周一告诉记者，弹道导弹潜艇“佐治亚”号仍在前往中央司令部的途中。

莱德没有透露罗斯福酒店将延期多久，也没有具体说明何时做出决定，只是说奥斯汀在周末选择了这样做。

此次增兵旨在提供一些灰色威慑力量。此前，以色列在 7 月下旬发动了两次袭击，加剧了地区紧张局势——一次是在黎巴嫩首都，是对真主党早前袭击的报复；另一次是在德黑兰，导致哈马斯政治领导人丧生。

此后，美国及其地区伙伴一直在严阵以待，防范真主党和伊朗的报复性打击。本周末，真主党和伊朗发动了首次袭击，据以色列军方称，袭击中使用了230多枚火箭弹。以色列的先发制人打击基本挫败了此次袭击，双方随后都表示将缓和局势。

周一上午，在与记者举行的新闻发布会上，当被问及美国向该地区增兵是否达到了预期效果时，莱德表示同意。

他说：“我认为，向该地区所有参与方增派兵力，向他们发出了一个非常明确的信息，那就是他们认真对待支持以色列保卫国家的问题。”

莱德表示，美国曾帮助以色列侦察真主党发射的来袭火箭弹，但并未参与以色列对黎巴嫩的先发制人打击行动。莱德说，以色列不需要军事支援，但美国已做好准备，在未来协助以色列的防御工作。

莱德说：“我们继续评估认为，伊朗存在发动袭击的威胁。”

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。