Iran vs US: The US is sending an additional carrier strike group (CSG) led by USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to Middle East, to bolster American military presence around Iran as part of a major buildup that also included the presence of B2 stealth bomber jets in Diego Garcia.

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USS Carl Vinson is the same US Navy ship from whose deck the body of al Qaeda terror group leader Osama bin Laden was dumped in a  'sea burial' after he was killed in a US Marine strike inside Pakistan in 2011.

Earlier stationed in the Guam military base of the US, Carl Vinson, the flagship of the Carrier Strike Group ONE (CSG 1), departed for the Persian Gulf on Friday (Mar 28), according to a Navy release. 

 

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More about USS Carl Vinson

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USS Carl Vinson, abbreviated as CVN-70, is the US Navy's third Nimitz-class supercarrier.

Its armaments include Mk 57 Mod13 Sea Sparrow Launchers, RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Launchers and Phalanx CIWS (which is an automated gun-based close-in weapon defence system).

Besides USS Carl Vinson, the CSG 1 includes a Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), and the guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 1.

Carl Vinson was deployed in several Middle East operations of the US Navy in the past, including  Operation Desert Strike, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Will Iran attack US base in Diego Garcia as B2 bombers, Globemaster planes land in major military buildup? What we know

The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is going to US Central Command to join the Harry S Truman CSG.

Trump's 'maximum pressure' tactic on Iran, Houthis

The movement of additional US naval power to Middle East adds to the news of B2 stealth fighters and Globemaster transport aircraft being sent to the Diego Garcia base with the potential to deploy in attacks against Houthi rebels in Yemen and their alleged backer, Iran.

Trump vows continued strikes on Yemen's Houthis, warns Iran 'real pain is yet to come'

US President Donald Trump has a two-fold aim: Put 'maximum pressure' on Iran to come to negotiating table on its nuclear programme, and stop Houthis from attacking Western shipping interests in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is fighting a war in Gaza against Israel.

Trump said over the weekend that 'there will be bombing' if Iran doesn't talk, 'the likes of which was never seen before'.


 

 

 

 

Yemen's Houthi rebels claim attacking US aircraft carrier thrice in last 24 hours