Marines from the 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company conduct dive operations with Ohio-class, guided-missile submarine USS Georgia while underway in the Mediterranean Sea on July 31, 2024.  (U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON — The submarine USS Georgia has arrived in the Middle East, joining two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, confirmed the Georgia’s presence in U.S. Central Command’s area of operations more than a month after it was ordered to move to the region. Ryder offered no other details, including when the submarine arrived or where it was.

The Georgia — an Ohio-class, ballistic-missile submarine — was ordered Aug. 11 to sail to the CENTCOM region by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as tensions between Israel and Iranian proxy forces reached a boiling point. The submarine carries up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles along with Mk48 torpedoes, according to the Navy.

The Georgia did not immediately travel to the CENTCOM area of control. In the past four weeks, the Pentagon has maintained the submarine was “in transit” to the region, only sharing on Aug. 22 that the Georgia was operating in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Navy said Aug. 9 — prior to Austin’s order — that the Georgia was training for weeks in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Georgia joins two carrier strike groups, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Abraham Lincoln.

The Pentagon announced Aug. 26 that the Roosevelt’s time in the Middle East would be extended. The carrier strike group left from San Diego in January for a deployment to the Indo-Pacific region. The aircraft carrier and its strike group were redirected in late June to the Middle East to relieve the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

On Tuesday, Ryder said there were no updates on when the Roosevelt might return from the deployment.