AMERICA is sending the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Iran escalates. The hulking $4.5billion nuclear-powered supercarrier, nicknamed Old Salt,

The US Navy has deployed a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East, diverting the USS Nimitz away from the South China Sea. USS Nimitz, and its nine air squadrons, will join the USS Carl Vinson strike group in the Arabian Sea, after being deployed in the Indo-Pacific region following naval build-up and escalations by China.

U.S. aircraft carrier USS Nimitz left the South China Sea on Monday morning heading west, according to data from ship tracking website Marine Traffic, after a reception for its planned port call in central Vietnam was cancelled.

USS George Washington is the only U.S. aircraft carrier currently positioned in the western Pacific to help keep China in check.

Leading up to Father’s Day, this father-daughter duo got the rare chance to serve together aboard the USS Nimitz Aircraft carrier.

Insurers are bracing for heightened volatility in the Middle East following the abrupt redeployment of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier away from the South China Sea and towards the Gulf region, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran.