1 of 2 | Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, pictured transiting the Pacific Ocean in 2021, has been dispatched to the Red Sea to moderate Yemeni attacks in commercial shipping lanes. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Isaiah Williams
March 23 (UPI) — The United States is dispatching a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East in an effort to ramp up defense efforts against Houthi militia aggression in the commercial shipping lanes of the Red Sea.
The move could presage an increase in U.S. bombing efforts against Yemen and its proxies in the region.
The U.S. will send the USS Carl Vinson and its several destroyers to the Red Sea next week.
It’s the second time in 6 months that the United States has had two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region at the same time, but the first time under the current Trump administration.
The deployment is an extension of a fresh campaign to strike targets in Yemen, during which the United States has struck dozens of sites in the region, many of which have been munitions sites, including missile launch and storage locations, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
Trump claimed on social media that the Iran-backs Houthis would be “completely annihilated” by U.S. forces and warned Tehran to “immediately” stop supplying the militants with military equipment.
A temporary military stand down between Israel and Hamas, which has since crumbled, also meant the Houthis had not attacked any of the commercial shipping traffic in the Red Sea since Jan. 19, but have said they are likely to escalate their aggression and have added that they will attack U.S. ships sent there to mediate.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it will take the Vinson roughly three weeks to reach the conflict zone.