U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiations are underway and set the end of military operations against Iran at within two to three weeks, as the U.S. military continues to deploy key military asset to the Middle East.
On the 1st (local time), the New York Times (NYT), citing two officials at the Ministry of National Defense, reported that the U.S. military is doubling the number of Air Force A-10 attack aircraft in the Middle East that can support a ground advance. The U.S. Air Force plans to dispatch an additional 18 A-10s to the Middle East on top of about 12 already deployed for strikes on Iranian vessels and Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
The A-10 can carry a variety of weapons, including AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and a 30 mm GAU-8/A cannon. Because of its low-level dashes that spew smoke while raking targets with its cannon, it is nicknamed the "Warthog." The additional A-10s from the United States are currently staging at Royal Air Force Lakenheath in the United Kingdom.
The NYT said, "This aircraft is more vulnerable to air defenses than fighters," and added, "The deployment of the A-10 suggests that Iran's strategic air defense network has been destroyed or significantly degraded."
Other U.S. military aircraft are also being added to the Middle East. On the 30th, Apache helicopters armed with Hellfire missiles deployed to the region alongside the A-10s, and the EA-37B, considered the most capable among existing electronic warfare aircraft, is also expected to be sent. On the 1st, Air & Space Forces Magazine, a publication under the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA), reported that the U.S. Air Force's EA-37B electronic warfare aircraft was spotted at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom and that the jet is likely to be deployed for operations against Iran.
The EA-37B conducts a range of electronic warfare missions that disrupt enemy communications, radar, and navigation signals, and it can weaken enemy air defenses by blocking data sharing between weapons systems and command-and-control networks. The War Zone (TWZ), a U.S. military specialty outlet, said the Iran deployment could be the EA-37B's first combat deployment. Heather Penney, a researcher at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and a former F-16 pilot, said, "Sending two EA-37B trainers to the U.K. is hard to explain as anything other than for operational deployment."
Naval power is also being deployed in succession. On the 31st, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush and its escort strike group departed Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia for the Middle East. The Bush strike group consists of more than 6,000 personnel, and it is expected to take several weeks to reach the region.
This is the third time the United States has deployed aircraft carriers across the Middle East. The Bush is set to join the Abraham Lincoln and the Gerald R. Ford, which are already in the region. The Lincoln is currently operating in the Arabian Sea, while the Ford has completed fire repairs at a naval base on the Greek island of Crete and is berthed at a Croatian port.
The successive deployments of U.S. strategic asset to the Middle East appear to have been influenced by President Trump's remarks. On the 31st, at a White House executive order signing, Trump said the end of military operations against Iran would come "very soon," mentioning "2–3 weeks." In a national address that day, he warned that if Iran does not show a substantive change in attitude within the next 2–3 weeks, the United States would deliver an overwhelming military strike that could send Iran "back to the Stone Age."