The US military will maintain a 'strong presence' in the Middle East despite a strategic shift to Asia. US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters prior to a trip to Kuwait that the United States has to be "flexible" in managing its forces in a more austere era. The US Navy will have just one aircraft carrier in the Middle East for about two months to allow maintenance work on another carrier, the USS Nimitz.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (L) is greeted by Kuwaiti Defense Minister Sheik Ahmad Al-Khaled Al Sabah, after arriving at Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait City, Tuesday (Photo: Reuters)

Panetta’s two-day visit to Kuwait is part of efforts to bolster security ties amid tumult in the region, including Syrian and Egyptian crises and tensions with Iran. Panetta, the first US Defense Secretary to visit Kuwait in the past 5 years, will hold talks with the country’s top leaders before visiting 13,500 US soldiers stationed here.