U.S. Beefs Up Military Presence in the Middle East with F-35 Fighters: The Middle East continues to heat up as the United States has recently decided to send F-35s to the Central Command area of operations. The Lightning IIs will solidify the American military presence as the Trump administration ponders more ground strikes against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
An undisclosed number of F-35s are heading to an unknown location in the Middle East. The Air Force wants to keep the numbers of jets and where they are going classified, but we know that a batch will be sent to the theater soon.
Beyond F-35: B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers Are Already in Diego Garcia
The F-35s could join the six B-2 Spirit stealth bombers on Diego Garcia, a military outpost in the Indian Ocean. The Iranian-backed Houthis continue to attack shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The F-35 will be able to continue ground strikes with various precision-guided munitions and perhaps escort the B-2s should the Lightning IIs be stationed on Diego Garcia too.
Would the Americans and Israelis Team Up for an Iranian Attack?
This is another way the United States blunts Iranian influence in the region. The F-35s from the United States could potentially join an Israeli attack on Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure should that be required.
The Israelis have made good use of their customized F-35I Adir which has been updated to reflect the feedback from pilots that have flown it during attacks against Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. The Israelis staged a large attack on Iran last autumn featuring the F-35I which worked to eliminate many Iranian air defenses and other military facilities.
The “bloody nose” strike destroyed numerous Iranian surface-to-air missile sites. No Israeli planes were lost.
A-10 Warthogs Are Also in the Theater
U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthog “flying tanks” have also been sent to the Middle East that can operate to eliminate ground targets in Yemen better.
The Americans have begun targeting individual Houthi fighters. President Donald Trump released footage last week after a number of Houthi terrorists were eliminated in a strike on social media.
With the B-2s, F-35s, and A-10s, the U.S. Air Force now has a strong fleet to be able to take the fight to the enemy and hopefully render the Houthis unable to use missiles and drones against military and civilian shipping.
Navy Will Have Two Aircraft Carrier Strike Groups Outside of Yemen
The U.S. Navy has also been active. The current carrier strike group in Central Command is being led by the USS Harry S. Truman. Soon, the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group would also deploy in the region.
The Americans have also brought missile air defense systems like the THAAD and Patriot PAC-3 batteries and re-deployed them from South Korea to Israel and the Middle East for better protection against enemy missiles and drones.
Why F-35? Hegseth Wants to Display More Lethality
“Secretary Hegseth continues to make clear that, should Iran or its proxies threaten American personnel and interests in the region, the United States will take decisive action to defend our people,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement last week.
Trump has also threatened Iran to “make a deal” on the future of its nuclear weapons program or face destruction from the United States. It is not clear if an attack on Iran would be headed up by B-2s and F-35s if the Commander-in-Chief called for it.
Meanwhile, the Houthis have been resilient. The United States has directed strikes against the terrorists for weeks ,yet the group continues to be a thorn in the side. They are backed by Tehra,n and the whole region is being undermined by Iranian state-sponsorship of terror in Gaza and in Lebanon.
The Americans have hit “100 command posts, stockpiles, launch sites, and even leaders,” in Yemen, yet the Houthis refuse to give up. It makes one wonder if the Trump national security team is willing to use ground forces to find, fix, and finish the Houthis with U.S. boots on the ground. Trump has always stated that the war in Iraq that started with an ill-advised attack on Saddam Hussein and his forces in 2003 was a mistake.
Vice President JD Vance, an Iraq war veteran, is especially against an active force of American soldiers and marines being deployed to Yemen. Thus, the Americans are likely to try and bomb the Houthis into oblivion rather than to chase them with ground troops. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been hawkish on Iran in the past. Secretary of Defense Hegseth is likely to call for more strikes as he fashions a U.S. defense strategy bent on using global lethality to keep enemies at bay.
The United States would like to avoid getting sucked into a quagmire in the Middle East and bombing alone sometimes has limited effect against terrorists and insurgents. The Americans have shown that counter-insurgencies are complicated on the ground and can take numerous years of struggle.
The best thing to do would be to deal with Iran and make Tehran’s support for the Houthis end. This could be part of Trump’s broader agreement with the Iranians should that take hold. Tehran is likely glad the Houthis are tying up U.S. resources.
Forcing the Americans to send its best aircraft carriers, airplanes, and air defense systems is almost a win in and of itself. No one wants war, but fighting the Houthis with air strikes may have to be a lengthy operation to keep navigation of the seas open for military and civilian shipping.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
