- According to DEBKAfile's military sources, the US naval
build-up off the shores of Iran marks rising military tensions in the
region, accentuated by last week's Hamas victory which has endowed Iran
with a military foothold on Israel's southwestern border.
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- The USS Enterprise CVN 65-Big E Strike Group, the US
Navy's largest air carrier, will join the USS Stennis and the USS Nimitz
carriers, building up the largest sea, air, marine concentration the United
States has ever deployed opposite Iran. This goes towards making good
on the assurances of four carriers US Vice President Dick Cheney offered
the Gulf and Middle East nations during his May tour of the region.
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- The "Big E" leads a strike group consisting
of the guided-missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke DDG 51, USS Stout DDG
55, Forrest Sherman DDG 98 and USS James E. Williams DDG 95, as well as
the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg CG 64, the SS Philadelphia SSN
690 nuclear submarine and the USNS Supply T-AOE 6.
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- On its decks are the Carrier Air Wing CVW 1, whose pilots
fought combat missions in the Gulf and Arabian Sea during 2006. The Air
Wing is made up of F/Q-18 Super Hornet strike craft, the Sidewinders Strike
Fighter Squadron VFA-86, the 251st Marine Fighter Attack Squadron MFA,
and the Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ 137.
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- The 32nd Sea Control Squadron VS consists of S-3B Vikings.
The Airborne Early Warning Squadron VAQ 3 flies E-2C Hawkeye craft. The
Fleet Logistics Support Squadron VRC is based on C-2A Greyhounds.
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- DEBKAfile's military sources report Washington is considering
deploying the fourth US carrier for the region in the Red Sea opposite
Saudi Arabian western coast to secure the three US carriers in the Gulf
from the rear as well as the Gulf of Aqaba and Suez Canal.
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