The Pentagon has sent a next aircraft carrier to support the troop increase in Afghanistan.
The Navy says the USS Abraham Lincoln and the guided missile cruiser USS Cape St. George arrived in the area over the weekend. The Lincoln brings an airwing that can send an extra 60 aircraft into the war — adding to aircraft by now there and flying from the transporter the USS Harry S. Truman.
A report from the 5th Fleet in Bahrain says Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved the sending of the second carrier to help partnership forces in Afghanistan and hold maritime security operations.
The fleet's area of accountability includes the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and areas off of the Horn of Africa where a number of nations help on anti-piracy operations.
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