The U.S. is deploying multiple ballistic missile destroyers and B-52 long-range strike bombers to the Middle East in the latest adjustment of forces in the region. 

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the new deployments, the Pentagon announced on Friday, Nov. 1. Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed that multiple U.S. Navy destroyers, as well as U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers, fighter jets and refueling planes will head to the Middle East over the coming months. The move is designed to prevent a gap in naval and air power as the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group prepares to leave the region.

“These movements demonstrate the flexible nature of U.S. global defense posture and U.S. capability to deploy world-wide on short notice to meet evolving national security threats,” Ryder said in a statement.