A look at the unusually large US military force in the Caribbean Sea

The US military has prepared an unusually large force Caribbean Sea and coastal waters Venezuela Since this summer, when trump The administration first began transferring assets to the region as part of its so-called war on drug terrorism.

Here’s a look at the ships, planes and troops in the area:

vessel

The navy has eight warships in the region – three destroyers, three amphibious assault ships, one cruiser and one small littoral combat ship designed for coastal waters.

Three amphibious assault ships form an amphibious readiness group and carry an expeditionary unit marineAs a result, those ships also carry a variety of maritime helicopters, Osprey tilt rotor aircraft and Harrier jets with the ability to transport large numbers of marines or attack targets on land and sea.

Although officials have not offered specific numbers, destroyers and cruisers are typically deployed with a missile loadout consisting of Tomahawk cruise missiles – a missile that can strike hundreds of miles from its launch point.

A US Navy submarine, the USS Newport News, is also operating in the wider region of South America and is capable of carrying and launching cruise missiles.

airplanes and drones

A squadron of advanced US Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II jets is dispatched to an airstrip in Puerto Rico. Planes were first seen landing on the island area in mid-September.

MQ-9 Reaper Air Force drones, capable of long range flight and carrying eight laser-guided missiles, have also been seen operating out of Puerto Rico by commercial satellites and military observers as well as photojournalists around the same time.

It has been widely reported that the Navy is also operating P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft outside the area.

Earlier this month, the Army released a photo of a US Air Force AC-130J Ghostrider, a heavily armed aircraft capable of accurately firing its large guns at ground targets, also sitting on the tarmac in Puerto Rico.

There are several other military aircraft that have temporarily passed through the area as part of military operations.

For example, the US Air Force flew a group of B-52 Stratofortress bombers through the region last week. pentagon Pictures online described it as a “bomber attack demo”.

soldiers

All told, more than 6,000 sailors and Marines are now serving in the area based on ships that defense officials have confirmed.

The Pentagon has not offered specific numbers on how many drones, aircraft or ground crews are in the field, so their impact on that broader figure is unknown.