The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group (CSG) is headed to the Middle East, where it will patrol the Red Sea with the USS Harry S. Truman CSG.

The deployment comes as the Iran-backed Houthis ratchet up their attacks in the Red Sea, and as US forces continue an "open-ended" campaign to strike Houthi military targets in Yemen that began March 15.

It is the second time in six months that the United States has kept two carrier strike groups in the region, with the Truman's deployment extended for at least an additional month.

The Carl Vinson, which is set to extend its scheduled deployment by three months, had been operating in the Indo-Pacific, conducting exercises with Japanese and South Korean forces near the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan.

It is expected to arrive in the US Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility in early April.

The United States generally keeps just one carrier strike group in the region.

But in August and September 2024, amid heightened tensions, the Abraham Lincoln CSG and Theodore Roosevelt CSG both operated in the region.

The deployment of the Carl Vinson will boost the US air and naval presence in the Middle East to enhance regional security and restore freedom of navigation.

There is no shortage of US firepower in the region, and more may be arriving.

Nimitz-class carriers

The Carl Vinson and Harry S. Truman are Nimitz-class carriers that typically carry around 60 airframes, including a variety of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.

Carl Vinson, the third ship of the class, was commissioned in 1982 and named in honor of Congressman Carl Vinson of Georgia.

The Vinson CSG includes the USS Princeton Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, the USS Sterett and USS William P. Lawrence Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, and the aircraft that make up Carrier Air Wing 2.

Carrier Air Wing 2 consists eight squadrons and one detachment, with both F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and F-35C Lightning IIs.

The US Navy's supersonic, twin-engine multi-role Super Hornet fighter can reach heights of 15,240 meters at a top speed of Mach 1.6 (1,975km/h).

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet performs traditional missions of fighter escort, fleet air defense, interdiction and close air support, while retaining excellent fighter and self-defense capabilities.

The single-seat, single-engine fighter-bomber F-35C Lightning II combines stealth, supersonic speed, maneuverability and advanced computing to support ground attack, aerial reconnaissance and air defense missions.