What US aircraft carriers bring to the Middle East

The Pentagon has deployed two aircraft carriers – and their supporting ships – to the eastern Mediterranean since the attacks on Israel. - REUTERS

Transcript

00:00 The Pentagon has deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean, the Ford carrier

00:08 and the Eisenhower carrier, along with their supporting ships.

00:12 Washington says these massive warships are intended to send a message to the region,

00:17 as war rages on between its ally Israel and Iran-backed Palestinian militants Hamas.

00:23 Here's a closer look at what that means.

00:28 The Gerald R. Ford carrier is the U.S.'s newest aircraft carrier and the world's largest.

00:34 It holds 5,000 sailors, a nuclear reactor, and an arsenal of missiles used to counter

00:40 drones and aircraft.

00:42 It can also hold more than 75 military aircraft, including fighter jets, and comes along with

00:48 several supporting warships.

00:50 The nuclear-powered Dwight Eisenhower carrier strike group first carried out operations

00:55 during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

00:57 It has 5,000 sailors and can carry up to nine squadrons of aircraft, like fighter jets,

01:03 helicopters and those capable of carrying out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance

01:08 operations.

01:11 The carriers would bolster Washington's presence in a region that already hosts a number of

01:16 U.S. military ships, planes and troops.

01:19 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday the aircraft carriers are not meant

01:24 to be a provocation but a deterrence, to ensure the conflict does not expand throughout the

01:29 region.

01:30 Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called them a sign of "a resolve to deter any state or

01:36 non-state actor seeking to escalate this war."

01:40 But it might not be seen that way to others.

01:42 Turkey, a long supporter of a two-state solution, has said the ships are meant to commit "serious

01:48 massacres" in the Gaza Strip.

01:51 And Iran has already threatened significant damages to the U.S. should the war escalate.

01:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]