US vows to maintain its carrier fleet despite pressure on budget

Mr Panetta also told the crowd of 1,700 gathered in the hangar bay of the USS Enterprise, off the US coast, that the ship was heading to the Persian Gulf and would steam through the Strait of Hormuz in a direct message to Tehran.

Iran has warned it will block the strait, a major transit point for global oil supplies, and bluntly told the US not to send carriers into the Gulf. The US has said it would continue to deploy ships there.

“That’s what this carrier is all about,” said Mr Panetta. “That’s the reason we maintain a presence in the Middle East... We want them to know that we are fully prepared to deal with any contingency and it’s better for them to try to deal with us through diplomacy.”

There was speculation that budget pressures would force the Pentagon to scale back the number of carriers, perhaps to 10, and Mr Panetta’s predecessor, Robert Gates, questioned maintaining 11 ships.

But the US Congress has expressed strong support for the current US carrier fleet and has passed a law requiring the Defence Department to maintain all 11 of the ships.

After his speech Mr Panetta told reporters travelling with him that the department would be looking for cuts in other areas.

He added: “Our view is that the carriers, because of their presence, because of the power they represent, are a very important part of our ability to maintain power projection both in the Pacific and in the Middle East.”

Keeping 11 of the warships, he said, “is a long-term commitment that the president wants to put in place”.

Mr Panetta’s remarks came amid the roar of fighter jets taking off and landing on the flight deck above, as the Enterprise conducted training operations about 100 nautical miles off Georgia.

Known as the Big E, the warship and the other six ships in the carrier strike group will deploy to the Middle East in March. Its presence there will allow the US to maintain two carrier strike groups in the Gulf region, where they can support battle operations in Afghanistan, anti-piracy efforts and other missions.

“The Big E is going to be an important symbol of that power in that part of the world,” said Mr Panetta.

The USS Enterprise, based in Virginia, was built 50 years ago as the first nuclear-powered carrier and is now the oldest active duty ship in America’s naval fleet. The ship’s upcoming deployment will be its 22nd and final tour, after which it is due to be decommissioned.

It is being replaced by the USS Gerald R Ford, which is the first in a new class of technologically advanced carriers. There will be about a 33-month gap before the Ford is commissioned, but Congress has granted a waiver allowing the navy to drop to 10 carriers for that period of time.

The Enterprise Carrier Strike Group includes the carrier itself, Carrier Air Wing 1, Destroyer Squadron 2, guided-missile cruiser USS Vicksburg, guided-missile destroyers USS Porter, USS James E Williams and USS Nitze. Together they carry more than 5,000 personnel, with about 4,500 of them on the USS Enterprise. The ship’s personnel include fewer than 400 women.

The air wing includes more than 50 aircraft.