President Donald Trump is sending what he calls an “armada” to the Middle East, after the Islamic Republic of Iran ignored his repeated warnings to halt the killing of protesters and executions of prisoners.
The USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group, which left the South China Sea earlier this month, is now believed to be near Iran in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. Its arrival brings about 5,700 additional service members to the region. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and its three Arleigh Burke-class destroyer escorts are part of the 10 U.S. warships believed to be in the region.
A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Delbert D. Black, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-destroyer-docks-in-israels-red-sea-port-amid-rising-iran-tensions?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=U.S.+Destroyer+Docks+In+Israel%E2%80%99s+Red+Sea+Port+Amid+Rising+Iran+Tensions">docked</a> Friday at the Red Sea port of Eilat, Israel, in a rare port call. The vessel is also an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer designed to counter threats in the air, on land, at sea, and underwater. It is equipped with the AEGIS combat system, which can defend against aircraft, missiles, and surface threats, and is capable of launching long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles. 
More than 30 Tomahawks were used in the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 during the 12-day war.
Others in the region include guided missile destroyers the USS McFaul and USS Mitscher, as well as the littoral combat ships USS Canberra, USS Santa Barbara, and USS Tulsa, <a href="https://x.com/afp/status/2017149547219190206?s=46&amp;t=ghpHusspWPjTMisXwpsMaA">AFP reported.</a>
Trump said Wednesday that a “massive Armada” of American ships was headed toward Iran and that it was prepared to take action if Iran didn’t “come to the table” to negotiate a nuclear deal.
“A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.”
On Friday, CENTCOM <a href="https://x.com/centcom/status/2017251822554042672?s=46&amp;t=ghpHusspWPjTMisXwpsMaA">highlighted its</a> F/A-18E Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 151 launching from the USS Abraham Lincoln, stating it was “conducting routine flight operations in the Arabian Sea” with the vessel that is “deployed to support security and stability within the Middle East region.”
<div id="attachment_1036375" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1036375" class="size-large wp-image-1036375" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/G_631m3XoAA8_AJ-864x576.jpeg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/G_631m3XoAA8_AJ-864x576.jpeg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/G_631m3XoAA8_AJ-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/G_631m3XoAA8_AJ-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/G_631m3XoAA8_AJ.jpeg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />A F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 151, launches from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. (CENTCOM)</div>
While Trump continues to press Iran for a nuclear deal — or to buy time until he is ready to strike the regime, which may have killed as many as 36,000 protesters and <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/01/28/irans-executions-have-not-stopped/">continues executing</a> political prisoners — other U.S. military assets are on the way. 
“Trump has put enough assets in the region to destroy vast assets of the Iranian regime,” Jonathan Schanzer, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Daily Wire. “It’s unclear whether the regime would fall as a result of a U.S. strike or if the goal is to degrade the regime. That all comes down to the battle plans provided to Trump.”
Apart from the aircraft assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group — F-35C Lightning IIs, F/A-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Hawkeyes, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters — other aircraft have reportedly been tracked moving toward the region.
The RC-135V Rivet Joint electronic surveillance aircraft flew to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Wednesday morning, <a href="https://x.com/OAlexanderDK/status/2016513814716367260?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2016513814716367260%7Ctwgr%5E4bf6eb14d09fb1bda4996fce76d1049b7b299c07%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twz.com%2Fnews-features%2Fdestroyer-electronic-surveillance-jet-joins-u-s-forces-massing-in-middle-east">according to</a> online flight trackers. The aircraft is one of the U.S. military’s most advanced spy planes, capable of intercepting radio, radar, and other electronic signals and identifying where they originate. It is used to map an adversary’s air defenses and military communications.
According to The War Zone, an E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) jet landed in Crete, a common stopover for flights to the Middle East. The E-11A acts as an airborne communications hub, linking aircraft and ground forces during operations, and has a long history of use in past Middle East conflicts.
Earlier this month, CENTCOM announced that a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron landed at a base in the Middle East.
“The F-15&#8217;s presence enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability,” <a href="https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2013647979673010637">CENTCOM posted to X</a>.
On Monday, CENTCOM also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-military-ramps-up-major-combat-readiness-drills-in-the-middle-east">announced</a> a multi-day readiness exercise “to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across” its area of responsibility. It claimed that by “practicing tactics, techniques, and procedures,” the U.S. Air Force is underscoring its “commitment to regional defense and security alongside partner nations.”
Dozens of U.S. military cargo planes have also been tracked heading to the region, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-military-middle-east-iran-protests-b7a56659d708f2f11f66a18135f44c40">reported</a>. 
The current U.S. buildup resembles the deployment of forces during the 12-day war in June, but Schanzer says the earlier effort was primarily defensive. “I think it’s quite a bit more because the U.S. just came in at the end,” he said. “The rest was mostly defensive posture.”
Many cargo aircraft were deployed in June to bring over equipment to protect U.S. servicemembers deployed to bases across the Middle East in case of an Iranian attack. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, there is renewed cause for concern about an attack on the 30,000 to 40,000 servicemembers stationed across facilities in the region.
“All are within the reach of an array of thousands of Iranian one-way UAVs and short-range ballistic missiles that threaten our troop presence,” Rubio said, while testifying before the Senate Wednesday. “We have to have enough force and power in the region just on a baseline to defend against that possibility.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
As more U.S. military assets move to the Middle East, let&#8217;s remember what Secretary Rubio said earlier this week:
“What I think you’re seeing now is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel. They… <a href="https://t.co/Cn1ZqM3JuL">pic.twitter.com/Cn1ZqM3JuL</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/2017323106507833754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2026</a></blockquote>
He added that Trump “reserves the preemptive defensive option” if the United States concludes Iran is preparing to strike U.S. service members.
Iran previously struck Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, where thousands of U.S. troops are typically stationed, in retaliation for U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites. The attack caused minimal damage and was widely viewed as a limited response intended to allow Tehran to save face. Following the strike, Trump publicly thanked the Iranian regime for providing advance notice.
Rubio said the current military posture is aimed at preventing a more dangerous scenario.
“That’s what I think you’re seeing now, is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel,” Rubio said. “They certainly have the capability to do it because they’ve amassed thousands and thousands of ballistic missiles that they’ve built. Despite the fact that their economy is collapsing, they keep spending money on it.”

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Trump Is Sending More Than An Armada To The Middle East

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Trump Is Sending More Than An Armada To The Middle East