This Is Too Much Hardware - Cost Billions Of US Dollars To Operate.

 *Key Aircraft Carrier Strike Groups*

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72): Positioned in the Arabian Sea/Gulf of Oman since late January, accompanied by three guided-missile destroyers.

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78): The world's largest aircraft carrier, which arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean (via Crete) in February 2026, accompanied by destroyers, including the USS Mahan, USS Winston S. Churchill, and USS Bainbridge.

*Destroyers and Other Vessels*

USS Mitscher (DDG-57) & USS McFaul (DDG-74): Operating in the Arabian Sea/Strait of Hormuz.

USS Pinckney (DDG-91): Arrived in the Arabian Sea in mid-February.

USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119): Red Sea.

USS Roosevelt (DDG-80) & USS Bulkeley (DDG-84): Eastern Mediterranean.

USS Spruance (DDG-111), USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), & USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121): Part of the Lincoln Strike Group in the Arabian Sea.

Littoral Combat Ships (LCS): USS Canberra (LCS-30), USS Tulsa (LCS-16), and USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32) are stationed in the Persian Gulf.

*Air Crafts*

The aircraft have been moved to bases in Europe and the Middle East. Some of them include the same types of aircraft that were involved in last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

F-16 Fighting Falcons from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany; Aviano Air Base, Italy; and McEntire Joint National Guard Base, S.C., were on the move from their home bases, according to air traffic control communications and flight-tracking data. More F-15E Strike Eagles from RAF Lakenheath, U.K., were also dispatched towards the Middle East.

F-22s from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., arrived at Lakenheath on Feb. 17, imagery from local spotters, air traffic control communications, and flight tracking data show. Those aircraft took off earlier in the day and crossed the Atlantic using “TREND” callsigns, which are typically associated with deployments. Six aircraft crossed the Atlantic on Feb. 17, with more F-22s likely on their way in the coming days.

Lakenheath is a typical stopover point on the way to the Middle East for F-22s coming from the United States, in addition to housing its own aircraft. If they continued their onward journey to the Middle East, the F-22s would join a vast array of airpower already assembled in the region.

The U.S. has multiple squadrons of fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets in the region, in addition to F-15Es, A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, and other F-16s that were already in the Middle East.

Support aircraft, including intelligence and surveillance aircraft, have also been operating in the region. An RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft, which has been flying missions from Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, has relocated to the Greek island of Crete in the Mediterranean, a less vulnerable location. Another RC-135 is on its way to the island from Florida.

Multiple P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft have been flying missions in the Middle East, including one that was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz on Feb. 17, flight tracking data shows.

On Feb. 16, 18 F-35s from the 48th Fighter Wing from RAF Lakenheath, U.K., departed towards the region, accompanied by aerial refueling tankers. They would be joining 12 F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing that deployed to the Middle East last week.

The F-22s that landed at Lakenheath from Langley come from the same unit that participated in the U.S. operation to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last month as part of Operation Absolute Resolve—12 of the fighters deployed briefly to Puerto Rico after that mission before returning home to Virginia.

The last time F-22s from Langley were spotted arriving at RAF Lakenheath was in the lead-up to Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, in which seven B-2 Spirit bombers struck two Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow and Natanz, while an additional site at Isfahan was struck with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The F-22 is America’s premier air-to-air fighter jet. While Iran has little air-to-air capability, F-22s have often been employed in the Middle East to lead strike aircraft that go in harm’s way. The F-22s protected strike aircraft during Operation Midnight Hammer, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters after the mission.

The F-35s from Vermont and the F-16s from Spangdahlem and the South Carolina Air National Guard are Wild Weasel units, which specialize in destroying enemy air defenses and acting as a decoy for strike aircraft, a role those aircraft types played in last year’s attacks on Iran. The 12 F-16s from the South Carolina ANG—the “Swamp Foxes”—landed at Lajes Field in the Azores, a Portuguese territory, on Feb. 17, imagery from local aircraft spotters shows.

The U.S. has also recently sent two E-3 Sentry AWACS airborne command and control aircraft to Europe, which landed at RAF Mildenhall on Feb. 17, imagery and flight tracking data show, with more E-3s on their way to Europe. Additional E-11 BACN airborne communications relay aircraft have deployed to the Middle East and to Europe, and over a dozen refueling aircraft were on their way to Europe on Feb. 17 and Feb. 18.

Add to all these, more than 85 KC-135 fuel tankers and 170 C-17 Globemasters cargo planes over have headed into the region since mid-February.

More military assets are arriving.

All getting into space for the call sign “go”.

My Comments :  Mr Trump promised that if the ayatollahs killed their people that will be the end of them. The consensus now is that the ayatollahs have killed over 35,000 people over January 8th and 9th, 2026 and the days following. The Crown Prince Reza Shah has also mentioned this number killed in his media releases. That is 35,000 times more than one is too many. The ayatollahs will have to pay the blood price. They will swing from the same construction crane from 1979.

All this hardware costs billions of US Dollars to operate and maintain at full combat ready state. Mr Trump is a businessman. He will certainly want a return on his investment.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

By Syed Akbar Ali