(AP) — The Pentagon has ordered the Ford carrier strike group to be ready to assist Israel, two U.S. officials said. The carrier was already in the Mediterranean conducting naval exercises with Italy.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is the United States’ newest and most advanced aircraft carrier.
The vessel and its approximately 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers in a show of force that is meant to be ready to respond to anything, from possibly interdicting additional weapons from reaching Hamas and conducting surveillance.
The large deployment, which also includes a host of ships and warplanes, underscores the concern that the United States has in trying to deter the conflict from growing.
