The threat of war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, in addition to the ongoing struggle in the Red Sea, is testing the ability of the US and its allies to respond. Here we look at naval dispositions in the region. Eisenhower has been withdrawn from the Red Sea and is on her way home. Having spent more days away than any other US-based carrier in the last 5 years it was wisely decided not to push the ship and crew too far by extending the deployment for a third time. After exercising with the Koreans she will make the approximately week-long transit to the Red Sea.
Taking a major US asset out of the Pacific theatre is clearly a strategic win for the Chinese. It might be expected that the ship would return to Portsmouth as quickly as possible after leaving the JOA but instead is visiting Palma, Mallorca.
Experience has shown that after enduring a particularly stressful period on operations it is good practice to give people time to decompress, relax for a short period and adjust to normal life before arriving home. However, there is no question that naval forces in the Red Sea are currently stretched as the USN simply does not have enough available aircraft carriers and its European partners are even more threadbare.
Rear Admiral Gryparis, in charge of Aspides , says he needs at least twice as many ships to cover the large area. Gapping the aircraft carrier presence in the Red Sea, even for a few weeks will not help.
A second merchant ship, MV Tudor has been sunk after two hits from one-way attack USVs and at least 4 innocent mariners have now been killed. Representatives of merchant shipping have been making increasing calls for the problem to be gripped. If commercial aircraft were being shot at, the global response would be far more assertive. Besides the strategic over-stretch created, this is an expensive campaign for navies that all lack hull numbers to varying degrees.
