‘Menu of options’: What the Ford carrier strike group brings to Israel’s defense

AUSA 2023 — Following the deadly attacks by Hamas on Israel over the weekend, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday ordered the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean to support the United States’ biggest ally in the Middle East. The move, often called a “show of force,” was lauded by military experts and analysts.

But while the focus of the move is on the signal it sends regionally, experts and a senior defense official say that there are practical benefits beyond flying the flag: The ships also offer the White House the ability to resupply the Israelis, collect intelligence, provide another layer of long-range protection for Israel and, the Pentagon hopes, deter other players from widening the conflict.

“The US Navy presence in the area of this war in the Middle East is absolutely critical and the right thing to do,” said John Ferrari, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

The phrase “show of force” is often used to describe positioning ships, warplanes and other assets nearby potential conflict zones to demonstrate the US is ready to act militarily if necessary. A senior defense official said the move was absolutely made in part to show America’s commitment to Israel’s defense — with the carrier arriving in the region “very soon.”

“Bringing the carrier strike group into the eastern Mediterranean affords President [Joe] Biden, a whole menu of options to support Israel,” said Jonathan Lord, a senior fellow at the Center for New American Security and formerly a congressional staffer on the House Armed Services Committee.

For instance, the carrier strike group, which is comprised of the carrier, a cruiser and four destroyers, could provide ballistic missile defense for Israel while its forces are preoccupied on other tasks, said Mark Montgomery, a senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“The Israelis are historically loath to ask another country to use that country’s troops in combat on their behalf; however, the one exception is in ballistic missile defense against Iranian missiles,” said Montgomery, a retired US Navy rear admiral who worked directly with the Israeli military while on active duty. “Any ballistic missile defense ships in the [carrier strike group] can support the defense of Israel against an attack from Iran.”

However, Montgomery said the “geometry is such that” ships’ ballistic missile defense wouldn’t be effective against attacks from Gaza or Lebanon. And though some rockets have reportedly been fired into Israeli territory from Lebanon, the senior defense official said one reason the US rushed the strike group to the region was to deter Hezbollah from “making the wrong decision” and widening the conflict further.

To counteract the kind of rockets coming out of Gaza, Israel famously uses the “Iron Dome,” a missile defense system made by Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries and heavily invested in by the United States. POLITICO today reported that administration officials told lawmakers the country is in urgent need of more interceptors for the Iron Dome.

Resupply is another role with which the carrier strike group could assist, multiple analysts noted in comments to Breaking Defense.

“In all likelihood, [the Ford] can provide assistance with her helicopters for establishing aid and carrying supplies for sure. She also has a huge magazine of weapons,” said Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain and a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute, an Indianapolis-based think tank. “That could be transferred to Israel, depending on whether they have any shortages.”

Brad Bowman, a senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the strike group brings a variety of intelligence collection and communications capabilities that can be used to quickly relay early warnings to the Israel Defense Forces ahead of incoming attacks.

He also said the Israelis are experienced working with a US Navy carrier strike group, having taken part in the “Juniper Oak” exercise in January, which featured the George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) strike group.

Will The Money Follow The Missiles?

For all the support the strike group can provide Israel, Ferrari said a new protracted conflict may test the limits of the Pentagon’s defense strategy — and budgeting strategies.

“We have the Army maintaining the proverbial ‘front line’ for an active war in Europe and now the Navy is maintaining the proverbial ‘front line’ for an active war in the Middle East,” he said, adding that special operations are conducting counterterrorism operations in Africa.

“It appears that the current defense strategy no longer reflects the world we live in, and if we were short munitions in Ukraine, now we have to arm the Israelis and Taiwan at the same time, with a strategy of ‘divest-to-invest,’” he said.

The question of money and how long the Pentagon will have the funds to extend its support to both Ukraine and Israel was on the minds of Army leaders here at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington.

“I would argue that just as we lean forward with Ukraine, I think, you know, the intent is to lean forward in support of Israel,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters on Monday. “One thing that is really important in terms of the munitions in particular, and our ability to support both potentially the Israelis and the Ukrainian simultaneously, is additional funding from Congress to be able to increase our capacity. … So I hope we’ll see that soon.”

Army acquisition head Doug Bush, speaking later in the day, said it was still too early to disclose specific weapons that may be bound for Israel but said it could  “hypothetically cut across a wide range of things from small arms all the way up to more sophisticated munitions.”

“The army stockpiles are not extended: We’re not diminished,” Bush told reporters. “ They might be a little lower in some cases, but we keep reserves and this is a good example of why…. The world’s an unpredictable place.”

Notably, the Army has two operational Iron Dome batteries fielded to soldiers based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Washington, and “close to” two full basic loads of Tamir interceptors, Bush said.

“Hypothetically,” he said the Army could also send those interceptors or launchers to Israel.“[Those] conversations are happening now,” Bush told reporters.

Ashley Roque in Washington contributed to this report.