Eisenhower strike group launches missions against Islamic State

March 31 (UPI) -- The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is participating in Operation Inherent Resolve with new airstrikes, the Navy said on Wednesday.

Missiles were launched by Carrier Air Wing 3 against Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria from the strike group's position in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Navy statement said.

The air launches came after IS took responsibility for an attack this week at Palma, Mozambique.

"Our Strike Group is ready and capable of providing direct, long-range combat operational air support from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea," Rear Adm. Scott F. Robertson, commander of Carrier Strike Group 2, said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We can provide a wide range of options to our nation and allies in deterring adversarial aggression and disruption of maritime security and regional stability," Robertson said.

The flagship aircraft carrier, the cruiser USS Monterey and destroyers USS Mitscher USS Laboon, USS Mahan, and USS Thomas Hudner currently comprise the strike group. It is the aircraft carrier's second deployment this year.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is expected to assume control of the U.S. Central Command's Task Force 50 in June, the multinational mission in the Middle East currently led by the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle.