US Navy Drills in Preparation For Iranian Strikes

Virtual Jerusalem | June 23, 2010

The armada of 10 US warships plus an Israeli and German battle vessel each, which transited the Suez Canal Friday, June 18, has reached the Persian Gulf, debkafile's military sources report.

But first, from June 6 through June 10, the USS Harry S. Truman carrier Strike Group was deployed 50 miles off the shore of southwestern Israel, secretly drilling the interception of incoming Iranian, Syrian and Hizballah missiles and rockets against US and Israeli targets in the Middle East.

The fleet let by the Truman then headed for the Persian Gulf through the Suez Canal accompanied by an Israeli missile ship (not identified) and the German missile frigate FGS Hessen F221.

For five days and night, the Truman's sixty F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter bombers took off on simulated bombing missions against targets set up by the Israeli Air Force at its firing range on the Nevatim Base-28, in the Negev desert southeast of Be'er Sheva - one of its three big air bases.

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