So by now most people have heard, that it looks like the Aircraft Carrier, the John C. Stennis , will deploy to the middle east to keep tabs on Iran sometime very soon, likely just after the holidays.
While the media narrative is that this is nothing more than posturing, a show of force, the magnitude of what this means is likely lost on anyone outside of the Navy community. We’re not talking about 1 ship here, we’re talking about an entire Carrier battle group. Most of us have some idea of what constitutes a Carrier battle group from playing Battleship on the floor with out siblings as kids, but the modern day equivalent constitutes a bit more than just the 5 plastic ships on the 10x10 grid.
The Stennis itself has a crew of 3,200 sailors and enough aircraft to destroy and cripple major cities. With the addition of the Stennis to the Persian Gulf, along with the Eisenhower already there, this means that we will have two battle groups in the Persian Gulf, an area roughly the size of Florida.
An Aircraft Carrier battle group is the most powerful component of our military, with a flexibility and ability to respond far greater than any ground or air forces. These groups pack more firepower and technology than anything else we have. Imagine the ‘death star’, and you might be an idea of how powerful these things are.
The Wikipedia has some great information on what this means.
On the ship itself, we’ve got 80+ tactical aircraft, including
Squadrons of CVW-9
Fighter Attack Squadron 154 (VFA-154) "Black Knights"
Hornets Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA-323) "Death Rattlers"
Fighter Attack Squadron 146 (VFA-146)"Blue Diamonds"
Fighter Attack Squadron 147 (VFA-147) "Argonauts"
Electronic Attack Squadron 138 (VAQ-138) "Yellow Jackets"
Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 112 (VAW-112)"Golden Hawks"
Sea Control Squadron 31 (VS-31) "Top Cats"
Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 8 (HS-8) "Eight-Ballers"
Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30 Detachment 4 (VRC 30)"Providers"
In terms of support ships, throw in two cruisers, two destroyers, a guided missile frigate, and a fast combat support ship, which is basically a floating 7-11 tanker.
Ships of DESRON 21
Lake Champlain (CG 57) - 122 Tomahawk missiles
Port Royal (CG 73) – 122 Tomahawk missiles
Decatur (DDG 73) – 90 Tomahawk missiles
Elliot (DD 967) – 61 MK 41 missiles
Jarrett (FFG 33)
Bridge (T-AOE 10)
And then underneath the water, we’ve got a few silent ships, waiting at the ready to pursue enemy ships, launch missiles without detection, or listen in on communications
Salt Lake City (SSN 716) - Fast attack submarine
Jefferson City (SSN 759) – Fast attack submarine with 12 cruise missiles
And these are just the components that we know are going to be there. The Navy just finished the first of four SSGN conversions of former cold war Trident Missile submarines, which will now each pack up to 154 cruise missiles along with a host of other add ons. The movement of these ships is a closely guarded secret, where often times the crew doesn’t even know where they are under the sea, but it’s not a far stretch of the imagination to envision the one of these boats, or a similar Nuclear armed Trident, lurking beneath the waves, waiting at the ready.
No folks, we aren’t sending JUST an Aircraft Carrier to the gulf. We're putting into place a fighting unit, far more powerful than any land base, packing more aircraft, firepower, and technology than anything that we have in fighting in Iraq. And this battle group will be solely dedicated to the Iranian 'threat'. While our ground forces might be ‘stretched thin’, our Navy is as strong as ever... so don’t think this is just a posturing show of force, as we'll have the ability to launch a massive, debilitating air strike on Iran in a matter of hours.