US Aircraft Carrier Group Exercises With Marine Expeditionary Unit In Arabian Sea - Navy

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2019) The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (ABECSG), Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have completed a two-day exercise in the Arabian Sea, the US Navy said in a press release on Monday.

"After the ABECSG deployed to the region in response to credible threat indicators, the operations highlight the ability of the US Navy to quickly mobilize assets and aggregate different platforms with a variety of operational capabilities," the release stated.

While the release did not mention Iran by name, the weekend exercises clearly represented a show of force directed at Tehran.

In early May, the US announced a military buildup in the Persian Gulf region, which included the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a squad of B-52 bombers, in response to intelligence that Iran was planning attacks on US targets.

During the exercises over the weekend, Harrier jump jets from the Kearsarge engaged in mock dog fights with F/A-18 Super Hornet jets from the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier posing as enemy fighters, the release said.

Attack helicopters from the Kearsarge also conducted a combined close air support exercise with multiple types of tactical aircraft - systems that do not normally operate together, the release said.

Marines also practiced fast-roping to board enemy ships, according to the release.