I'm not an expert on naval matters, U.S. or French, but the thing with any fleet in the Persian Gulf is that it is within striking distance of Iran. And if the U.S. fleet is built around an LHA and a couple of ships, the fleet will be in trouble if there's any aircraft capable of carrying anti-ship weapons on the other side. Yes, the LHA boast the Phalanx-system and any carrier-style vessel is most probably going to be protected by heavy anti-air capability, but LHA lacks the intercept capability vital for surviving in a hostile naval environment with enemy aerial assets. A couple of Harriers will not do much, since they are not designed to fight air-to-air as much as they are meant for attack and CAS missions. Also, ammunition supply for anything else than guns would probably be depleted pretty quickly, especially in an aircraft-rich neighbourhood and that would have most probably been well before they got to the Gulf in the first place...
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"Listen to me, nugget, and listen good. Don't go poppin' your head out like that, unless you want it shot off. And if you do get it shot off, make sure you're dead, because if you ain't, guess who's gotta drag your sorry ass off the field? Were short on everything, so the only painkiller I have comes in 9mm doses. Now get the hell out of my foxhole!" - an unknown medic somewhere, 2013.
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