As President Donald Trump considers a major strike on Iran after discussions about limiting that nation’s nuclear program and ballistic missile manufacturing haven’t progressed, the US military has accelerated a weekslong buildup of military {hardware} in the Middle East, open-source information exhibits.
That consists of near-constant surveillance flights and dozens of C-17 and C-5 military planes dropping off a great deal of cargo at US bases throughout the area.
The arrival of the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, now in the northern Arabian Sea, represents the most substantial shift in military positioning. The group consists of the USS Abraham Lincoln together with three guided-missile destroyers and the provider air wing which incorporates squadrons of F/A-18E Super Hornet fighters, F-35C Lightning II fighters, and EA-18G Growler digital warfare jets.
The Navy additionally has three destroyers — the USS Delbert D. Black, USS McFaul, and USS Mitscher — in the area separate from the provider strike group.
Three littoral fight ships — USS Santa Barbara, USS Canberra and USS Tulsa — primarily based out of Bahrain might be referred to as upon for minesweeping duties if Iran choses to deploy such armaments.
In current days the US has deployed varied air protection techniques to the area as nicely, together with extra Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) techniques, and Patriot missile techniques that appeared at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar final week, seen in a satellite tv for pc picture captured by Planet Labs on January 25. Those techniques can be key to combatting retaliatory missile strikes ought to Iran reply to a strike by taking purpose at both US military property or US allies in the area.
The equipment has accrued as Trump has repeatedly threatened military motion, saying on Wednesday that if Iran doesn’t conform to a deal, “the next attack will be far worse” than final June’s assault on its nuclear amenities.
“Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” Trump mentioned of the Lincoln.
The guided-missile destroyers steaming with the Lincoln and elsewhere in the area provide important strike potential. Each can carry dozens of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles with a variety of 1,000 miles and wielding a 1,000-pound standard warhead.
Additionally, US Navy provider strike teams normally function with an assault submarine that may additionally launch Tomahawks, however the presence of subs is sort of by no means disclosed.
While the provider supplies a floating base for military operations, the US has quite a few everlasting places in the area the place a slew of different plane have additionally been heading.
An E-11A jet arrived Thursday at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, certainly one of the final essential property essential for the US to coordinate complicated operations. The transformed enterprise jet acts as a high-altitude communications relay system, transmitting information to help any airborne or floor forces.
The identical day, a modified cargo airplane designed for fight search-and-rescue operations arrived in the theater. A squadron of F-15E Strike Eagle fighters, which may carry an array of guided bombs and air-to-surface missiles, additionally lately deployed to the area as a part of a deliberate rotation of forces.
Surveillance flights by US drones and reconnaissance plane have been ongoing, patrolling the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf. Since Monday, the flights have been working at a near-constant tempo, originating from US bases in Qatar, Bahrain and even outdoors the Middle East.
Variants of the RC-135 reconnaissance airplane have additionally arrived in the area, able to detecting radioactive particles and deciphering electromagnetic alerts.
On Thursday, at the very least eight tankers used for refueling smaller military jets in midair crossed the Atlantic, touchdown at Morón Air Base in southern Spain. During their flights, a number of of the tankers broadcasted messages suggesting that they have been supporting at the very least seven extra smaller planes on the transatlantic flight, presumably geared up for digital warfare or fighter missions.
An F-35 operations middle was particularly referenced in messages transmitted Thursday evening to 2 of the tankers and recorded on the flight monitoring dashboard tbg.airframes.io, indicating that the fifth-generation fighters have been crossing the Atlantic. Both tankers referenced in the messages flew from Homestead Air Base in Florida, close to the place the US had deployed F-35s to Puerto Rico as a part of Operation Southern Spear, the Trump administration’s marketing campaign to focus on alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
Less than two hours after the messages have been despatched, six F-35s landed at Lajes Air Base in Portugal, in response to airplane spotter Andre Inacio, who photographed them. NCS independently confirmed the geolocation of the photographs.
And this week, as tensions mounted amid Trump’s threats, the Air Force carried out a multiday exercise in the area meant to display its skill “to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat power” throughout the Middle East, US Central Command mentioned on Tuesday.
It’s unclear what different property from round the world might be used in any potential operation, given the intensive community of US military air tankers. In June 2025, seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers flew a 37-hour mission from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Iran, dropping over a dozen bombs on three of Iran’s key nuclear amenities.
Also used in final June’s assault on the Iranian nuclear websites was a guided-missile submarine. The US Navy has 4 of the Ohio-class guided-missile subs — transformed ballistic-missile submarines whose places are stored secret — that may carry as much as 154 Tomahawks.