US Sends Stealth Fighters as Gulf Forces Build

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 05, 2003

US Sends Stealth Fighters as Gulf Forces Build

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The United States has sent an undisclosed number of F-117A "Nighthawk" stealth fighters to Gulf region in preparation for a possible war against Iraq, and the fourth aircraft carrier left its base on Tuesday to deploy to the region, military officials said.

The precision-strike fighters left Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on Monday night on their first deployment for a possible war since 1999 when they were used over Kosovo, a spokesman for the base said.

A single-seat fighter designed to escape enemy radar systems and attack targets with pinpoint accuracy, the F-117A played a keyrole in the 1991 Gulf War, becoming the only American or coalition aircraft used to strike targets in downtown Baghdad.

Meanwhile, the Norfolk, Virginia-based USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier carrying 8,000 troops left to for the Gulf on Tuesday, becoming the fourth aircraft carrier to be deployed in the region.

The USS Abraham Lincoln re-entered the Arabian Sea over the weekend from Perth, Australia, where it had been undergoing repairs after completing its normal six-months deployment in the Gulf. It joined the Truman and the Constellation already positioned within the striking distance of Iraq.

Each aircraft carrier, with about 70 aircraft aboard, is accompanied by a battle group of destroyers, cruisers and other ships, plus a submarine.

The deployment order was part of a continuing US military buildup in the Gulf region to more than double the 60,000 troops already there. Military officials said Defense Secretary Ronald H.Rumsfeld was considering sending one or two additional carriers tothe Gulf region, for a potential total of six.

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