What you need to know about carrier strike groups as U.S. sends second amid Gaza war

The United States announced they are sending a second carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to act as a deterrence amid concerns that foreign aggressors could engage in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The USS Gerald Ford led the first group to head to the region, and now the group led by the USS Eisenhower will join them after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s announcement.

The USS Eisenhower will join an elite number of U.S. defense forces including:

• Guided-missile cruiser, the USS Philippine Sea
• Guided missile destroyers, USS Gavel and USS Mason
• Nine aircraft squadrons
• The USS Ford aircraft carrier, which includes eight squadrons of attack and support aircraft
• Guided-missile cruiser, the USS Normandy
• Guided-missile destroyers, the USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney and USS Roosevelt

Here’s everything you need to know about one type of the U.S. Navy’s carrier battle groups.

What is a carrier strike group?

The nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower sits pier side at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va., Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The Biden administration sent the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

A carrier strike group, or CSG for short, is a type of carrier battle group that is a principal element of U.S. power, holding enough firepower to rival the air forces of entire nations.

A U.S. carrier strike group, not to be confused with the United Kingdom’s battle group of the same name, typically operates with roughly 7,500 personnel onboard.

A carrier strike group’s mission is to “achieve and sustain air, sea and undersea control, respond to crises and protect United States’ interests anywhere, anytime,” according to an infographic published by Huntington Ingalls Industries, the sole builder of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.

What’s in the carrier strike group heading to the Mediterranean Sea?

An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the South China Sea, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, as Nimitz in U.S. 7th Fleet was conducting operations. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin McTaggart/U.S. Navy via AP)

Known for being powerful, mobile, flexible, independent and sustainable, a carrier strike group typically contains roughly 7,500 sailors and Marines, and five different types of ships:

• Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
• Replenishment ship
• Cruiser
• Destroyers
• Submarine

A CSG will also typically contain the following types of aircraft:

• Strike fighters
• Growlers
• Hawkeyes
• Greyhounds
• Helicopters

How many carrier strike groups does the U.S. have?

FWeapons personnel work on a weapons elevator on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, Oct. 6, 2022, off the Virginia Coast. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Including the USS Eisenhower deployed Saturday, the U.S. maintains 11 carrier strike groups, 10 of which are based in the United States, according to the Navy’s official website.

One of the carrier strike groups is based in Japan.

How powerful is a carrier strike group?

United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin addresses a media conference on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Carrier strike groups can strike targets from 1,000 miles away and can strike from even farther distances with aerial refueling. They “can defend against air, missile, and submarine attack, and can maintain maritime security over an area of hundreds of square miles,” according to Bryan Clark, a former U.S. Navy officer and defense expert at the Hudson Institute, who spoke to Business Insider after the USS Gerald Ford was deployed.

Aircraft carriers have long been used to project strength and deter hostile forces.

How many aircraft carriers are there?

There are a total of 21 aircraft carriers operated by 14 different navies around the world as of October 2023, according to globalfirepower.com. The U.S. has 11 of those 21.

China, India, Italy, the United Kingdom, France and Russia each have two.