U.S. FORCES

AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUPS

The U.S. is preparing to move two additional aircraft carrier battle groups with 150 warplanes and dozens of ship-launched cruise missiles to the Gulf region.

- The hospital ship Comfort: Sailed for the Gulf.

- Abraham Lincoln: Ordered to remain at sea instead of returning to the United States from a recently completed six-month tour near Iraq.

- Constellation: On patrol in the Gulf.

- Harry S. Truman: On station in the Mediterranean.

- George Washington: Returned to the United States from the Gulf in December; likely to return to the region with either the Abraham Lincoln or Kitty Hawk, which is based in Japan.

Carriers typically deploy about 75 warplanes. Each warship is shepherded by a half-dozen or so cruisers, destroyers and submarines with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

TROOPS

The ground forces ordered to deploy so far are far short of the 250,000 troops sent to the region for the 1991 Gulf War.  

The U.S. signed orders on January 11 to deploy more troops to the Gulf. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed the orders which include thousands of Marines, an army airborne infantry brigade, a squadron of air force F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters and two squadrons of F-16CJ radar-jamming fighters.

The orders took the total number of troops mobilised since January 10 to about 62,000.

The orders included plans to send 7,000 marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and another 7,000 from Camp Pendleton, California. The U.S. has already begun sending 12,000 armoured and infantry troops from the state of Georgia and engineers, military police and intelligence specialists from Germany. It plans to more than double the 60,000 troops now in the Gulf.

Another 10,000 National Guard and Reserve soldiers have been put on alert for rapid mobilisation.

At least 17 U.S. Navy and chartered ships loaded with armour and other supplies for the U.S. army and Marine Corps are anchored at the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.

Six vessels contain equipment and supplies to support 17,300 Marines for 30 days, according to the navy.

AIR BASES

The US air force has begun sending B-1B bombers from Ellsworth, South Dakota, and will send both F-15C fighters and F-15E attack jets along with Predator unmanned spyplanes and radar aircraft. Turkey is expected to give reluctant support to the U.S., allowing its air bases to be used by U.S. and British jets. These would join 200 other U.S. F-15, F-16 and A-10 strike jets and F-117 "stealth" fighters that would be based in Gulf states. The United States has bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia, although it remains unclear if the  Saudis would allow the full use of those on its soil. The U.S. air force has built facilities for radar-evading B-2 stealth bombers on Diego Garcia. The island, 3,340 miles (5,340 km) from Baghdad, is also home to a fleet of Vietnam War-era B-52 heavy bombers, upgraded to drop satellite- and laser-guided "smart" bombs.

BRITISH FORCES

Britain's flagship aircraft carrier Ark Royal left for the Gulf on January 16 at the head of the largest British amphibious task force deployed since the 1982 Falklands War. It will lead a 16-ship flotilla, officially to take part in naval exercises. British officials say they have dramatically upgraded the force beyond its original mission in case it is needed in Iraq, adding two battalions of elite Royal Marine commandos capable of deployment by helicopter. In all, 5,000 sailors and 3,000 Marines will sail first to

the Mediterranean and then on through the Suez Canal. They are due to visit ports in the Gulf in April but could deploy there earlier if necessary. A helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean left to join the task force

also on January 16. Britain is expected to send to the Gulf most of its main fighting ground force, the army's First Armoured Division, from its bases in Germany. It's armoured division in Germany is made up of two brigades, the Fourth and the "Desert Rats" Seventh, with about 250 tanks and 15,000 personnel. Britain has also called up an initial 1,500 reservists, mainly medical personnel.

A battle group of elite British Royal Marines left for the Mediterranean on Thursday as the country's largest amphibious task force in 20 years deploys for a possible war against Iraq.
The following U.S. and British forces are in or near the Middle East and could be used in any U.S.-led attack on Iraq.