http://www.difesaonline.it/mondo-militare/siria-gli-usa-schierano-il-gruppo-da-battaglia-della-uss-truman

(Franco Iacch)
17/11/15

US Navy sent the aircraft carrier 'Harry S. Truman' in the Middle East in support of Coalition raid against the terrorist group of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was planned for over a year, but the Gulf area should have received a carrier within the first three months of the next year.

The attacks in Paris have changed the plans of the Pentagon. The Truman will remain in service for seven months. The Battle Group left yesterday Norfolk, Virginia and will arrive in the Persian Gulf in six weeks. The Group is composed with the Seventh Carrier Air Wing Squadron, the 28th Destroyer Squadron, from USS Anzio Ticonderoga, the Arleigh A. Burke class missile destroyer, USS Bulkeley, USS Gravely and USS Gonzalez and two attack submarines of the Los Angelesclass. The Truman will join the only French aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, which will be deployed in optimal attack position later this week.

The US, therefore, returns to the old air-sea strategy, with the presence of a vector close to a crisis area. For about a month, the US did not have any aircraft carrier in the Middle East after the departure of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. This had not happened since 2007.

And to understand how crucial is strategy of the presence of a US aircraft carrier close to a battle area, it would be appropriate to list some data.
The Roosevelt has made 1,812 sorties for a total of 10,618 hours of flight. All aircraft carrier have consumed a total of 14.5 million liters of fuel, throwing 1,085 precision-guided systems.

Right from the start, after the absence of Roosevelt, it became apparent that the offensive capability of the United States in the Middle East would be greatly reduced. The Roosevelt brought home 5,000 troops and 65 combat aircraft. The Pentagon, despite some returned forces from Germany and Italy in Turkish bases, against the Islamic state has in line just under thirty fighter jets (six of which are dedicated to the protection of the turkish airspace).

The arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt will increase exponentially the power of the US in the Gulf.

(Photo: US Navy)

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IZAKOVIC