The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is headed toward the Middle East, bringing along its key surface ships.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, USS O'Kane and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. departed Naval Base Guam on August 8, according to a Navy statement.

The USS Spruance departed Saipan, Northern Marianas Islands, the same day.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln CSG, operating near Guam, to head to the Middle East, the Pentagon announced on August 2.

The CSG includes the Nimitz-class carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) Nine, and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS O'Kane, USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., and USS Spruance.

Surface ships in a CSG are essential for providing defense, tactical support and enhanced situational awareness, ensuring the carrier's operational security and extending the strike group's overall reach and effectiveness in both offensive and defensive operations.

The USS Spruance and the USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. are both members of the Flight IIA subclass of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and are reconfigured to better adapt to littoral warfare.

The subclass has a displacement of 9,300 tons, making it one of the largest destroyer types in the world.

The destroyers have 96 vertical launch cells as well as side-by-side helicopter hangars housing two MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and an enlarged flight deck.

The MH-60R is the US Navy's primary anti-submarine and surface warfare helicopter. It provides extended reach and flexibility, allowing destroyers to operate effectively in diverse maritime environments.

Other Flight IIA enhancements include organic mine hunting and area theater ballistic missile defense.

The Spruance is among just eight Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with the Optical Dazzling Interdictor (ODIN), a Navy laser system.

The ODIN is designed primarily to counter and neutralize the sensors on unmanned aerial systems, blinding them without destroying the aircraft.

For its part, the USS O'Kane is a member of the Flight II subclass.

Arleigh Burke destroyers center on the integrated Aegis Combat System, which consists of advanced command and control and Anti-Air Warfare and Anti-Submarine Warfare systems as well as the all-weather, long-range Tomahawk Weapon System, which can conduct land attacks.

All Arleigh Burke-class destroyers have a version of the AN/SLQ-32, a passive electronic countermeasure system that has gone through multiple upgrades over the years.

The electronic warfare suite is designed to provide ships with early detection, signal analysis, threat warning and protection from anti-ship missiles.