The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower entered the Mediterranean late on Monday, the U.S. Navy said, at a time when U.S. officials are raising alarm over Russia's maritime expansion.
The Eisenhower, also known as the "Ike," will relieve the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, which later this month heads back to the United States after an extended eight-month deployment.
The Eisenhower, which also leads a strike group of cruisers, destroyers and warplanes, is scheduled to continue on to the Gulf to participate in U.S. airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. Exact details of its deployment have not been released.