WASHINGTON, Oct 18: The aircraft carrier Constellation with 72 warplanes aboard will head for the Gulf on Nov 2, the latest piece in a quiet US buildup off Iraq, Navy officials said on Friday.

The 88,000-ton Constellation, based in San Diego, will be the third US carrier in the region. It was sticking to a schedule worked out at least nine months ago, and not being accelerated due to the Iraqi crisis, the officials said.

Two other US carrier battle groups — the Abraham Lincoln and the George Washington — are already in striking distance of Iraq. A fourth carrier, the Harry S. Truman, is to head out in early December from its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia.

A fifth, the San Diego-based Nimitz, could be deployed as early as late December and a sixth, the Yokosuka, Japan-based Kitty Hawk, also could be brought to bear quickly, said Patrick Garrett, who is tracking deployments for GlobalSecurity.org, an Alexandria, Virginia-based research group.

Citing security concerns, a spokeswoman for the Navy’s San Diego-based 3rd Fleet, Commander Jacqueline Yost, confirmed only that the Constellation battle group had begun final pre-deployment war games off the US West Coast and would head out by year’s end. The deployment date was first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Constellation is due to relieve the Lincoln; the Truman to replace the Washington. —Reuters