The United States announced on Friday the deployment of new military capabilities to the region that will arrive “in the coming months” in a move that comes “in defense of Israel” and as a warning to Iran, according to a statement issued by the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) on Friday. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement that Austin had ordered the deployment of several B-52 Stratofortress bombers, a squadron of fighters, tanker aircraft and naval destroyers to the Middle East. He said they would begin arriving in the region in the coming months, as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln begins its return home.

Austin’s latest order demonstrates “the United States’ ability to deploy around the world on short notice to address evolving national security threats,” Ryder said. Austin “continues to make clear that if Iran or its partners or proxies exploit this moment to target American citizens or American interests in the region, the United States will take all necessary action to defend our people,” he added.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, along with three Navy destroyers, is scheduled to leave the region by mid-month and return to its home port of San Diego, a US official told The Associated Press. The Lincoln and two of its destroyers are now in the Gulf of Oman, and the third destroyer with two other warships is in the Red Sea.

When the Lincoln leaves, there won’t be an aircraft carrier in the region for a while, the official said. To make up the gap, Austin has ordered other Navy destroyers to the region. The destroyers, which are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, will come from the Indo-Pacific or Europe, the official said.