伊朗危机使亚洲官员与分析人士担忧，美国可能把原本面向印太的航母调往中东，造成亚洲航母覆盖缺口。特朗普称正评估“非常强硬”的选项，并表示周二将听取高层简报；伊朗议长Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf警告，若美方发动打击，美以部队将成“合法目标”。白宫的核心难题是中东目前缺少一艘美国航母：去年10月国防部长Pete Hegseth曾命令USS Gerald R. Ford离开克罗地亚Split转赴加勒比，以准备针对委内瑞拉的行动。
美国海军共有11艘航母，但多艘处于长期维护或刚结束部署、短期不可用。五艘东海岸母港航母通常负责中东覆盖，但眼下仅USS George H.W. Bush看似具备部署条件，即便如此也需数周才能抵达。更快的方案是把圣迭戈母港的USS Abraham Lincoln及其两艘Arleigh Burke级导弹驱逐舰从南海转向更靠近伊朗的海域；这与前总统Joe Biden时期多次将航母自西太平洋调往中东、为长期部署舰只轮换的做法相似。日本横须贺前沿部署的USS George Washington刚结束数月部署，正准备维护。
对印太而言，关键焦点是资源挤占：日本前海上自卫队舰队司令Yoji Koda称，若要发射1,000枚Tomahawk导弹，约需20艘美国战舰并将显著消耗应对潜在中国冲突所需的库存。当前波斯湾已有3艘独立部署导弹驱逐舰（USS Mitscher、USS Roosevelt、USS McFaul）及3艘濒海战斗舰（USS Canberra、USS Tulsa、USS Santa Barbara）。学者指出全球热点增多但美军能力未同步增长，日本将被迫在2022年防务文件引入反击能力与增支之后进一步承担“战区分工”，从而释放美军更集中于台湾方向。
The Iran crisis is raising Asian fears that Washington could divert an Indo-Pacific aircraft carrier to the Middle East, weakening carrier coverage in Asia. President Donald Trump said he is considering “very strong options” and will receive a Tuesday briefing; Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned US and Israeli forces would become “legitimate targets” if strikes occur. The White House’s immediate constraint is that there is currently no US aircraft carrier in the Middle East; in October, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent the USS Gerald R. Ford from Split, Croatia, to the Caribbean ahead of a potential Venezuela operation.
The US Navy has 11 aircraft carriers, but many are in extended maintenance or just returned from long deployments. Of five East Coast–homeported carriers that normally cover the Middle East, only the USS George H.W. Bush appears ready, and it would still take weeks to arrive. A faster move would be to redirect the San Diego–based USS Abraham Lincoln, along with two Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyers, from the South China Sea toward waters near Iran—echoing Biden-era shifts from the Western Pacific to the Middle East. Meanwhile, the forward-deployed USS George Washington in Yokosuka has just returned from a months-long deployment and is preparing for maintenance.
Resource trade-offs are central: retired Japanese Vice Admiral Yoji Koda said firing 1,000 Tomahawk missiles would require roughly 20 US warships and would significantly deplete stockpiles needed for a potential China conflict. Currently, three independently deployed guided-missile destroyers (USS Mitscher, USS Roosevelt, USS McFaul) and three littoral combat ships (USS Canberra, USS Tulsa, USS Santa Barbara) are in the Persian Gulf. Analysts argue global hot spots are expanding while US capabilities are not, pushing Japan—after its 2022 defense documents added counterstrike concepts and raised spending—toward greater theater responsibility that could free US forces to focus more on Taiwan.