The WSJ reports that the US is moving additional warships to the Middle East, citing three US officials. It says that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved a request from U.S. Central Command, responsible for American forces in the Middle East, for an element of an amphibious ready group and attached Marine expeditionary unit.
Such a unit would typically include several warships and 5,000 Marines, the officials said.
The Japan-based USS Tripoli and its attached Marines are now headed for the Middle East, two of the officials said.
On that ship:
She is a America-class amphibious assault ship — essentially a flat-deck vessel that functions similarly to a light aircraft carrier. LHA-7 was built by Huntington Ingalls Industries in…