A modern aircraft carrier is the largest and most complex warship ever built — a 100,000-tonne floating airfield that launches jet aircraft every 90 seconds from a deck roughly the size of three football fields, then catches them coming back at 150 knots on a ship that is itself moving through a pitching sea.
See the F/A-18E/F Super HornetNot all carriers work the same way. Three launch-and-recovery systems are in service around the world, each representing a different engineering trade-off between performance, cost, and the size of aircraft that can be operated.
CATOBAR is the most capable and most expensive system. A catapult accelerates the aircraft from rest to flying speed in about 300 feet. Only three navies have operated CATOBAR carriers: the United States Navy (Nimitz and Ford classes), France (the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle), and, historically, Brazil (decommissioned 2017).
STOBAR replaces the catapult with a ski-jump ramp at the bow. Aircraft must be able to fly off under their own power, limiting payload and fuel weight. Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov and India's Vikramaditya and Vikrant use STOBAR.
STOVL carriers use the ski-jump for takeoff and rely on aircraft that can hover or land vertically, removing the need for arresting wires. The UK's HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales and the US Navy's amphibious assault ships all operate on this principle, flying the F-35B.
The US Navy's Nimitz-class carriers used the C-13 steam catapult for roughly 60 years. Steam drives a piston the length of a 300-foot track, through a slot to a shuttle that hooks to the aircraft's nose-gear launch bar. Peak forces reach 1,000–2,000 lbf per square foot of shuttle face, enough to accelerate a 48,000 lb F/A-18 from 0 to 165 knots in 2 seconds.
The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) replaces the steam piston with a linear induction motor. EMALS offers smoother launch loads, precise energy control for aircraft of different weights, and fewer moving parts. Early reliability problems on Ford delayed her deployment by years, but subsequent Ford-class ships have shown improved availability.
A carrier landing puts forces on the aircraft that no land-based operation matches. The pilot flies a 3.5-degree glideslope aiming the tailhook to catch one of four steel wires. Wire 3 is the target. When the hook catches, the wire applies a stopping force of roughly 50,000 lbf, decelerating the aircraft from 150 knots to zero in under 2 seconds. The pilot keeps full throttle throughout — if the wire is missed, the aircraft must fly off the angled deck immediately.
The Ford class introduced the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), which replaces the hydraulic purchase-cable system with a water-twister energy absorber that can modulate stopping force for a wider range of aircraft weights — critical as heavier unmanned aircraft enter the fleet.
The 4.5-acre flight deck of a Nimitz-class carrier operates as one of the world's busiest and most dangerous airports. Every person on the flight deck wears a colour-coded jersey: yellow for plane directors and catapult officers, blue for aircraft handlers, green for catapult and arresting-gear crews, red for ordnancemen and crash/fire/rescue, white for safety officers, purple for fuel handlers. The Air Boss directs all flight deck and airspace activity from Primary Flight Control above the island. Operations sustain roughly one launch or recovery every 90 seconds at peak tempo.
A Carrier Air Wing (CVW) embarked on a Nimitz-class carrier typically consists of roughly 70 aircraft across nine squadrons, including four to five F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter squadrons, one EA-18G Growler electronic attack squadron, one E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning squadron, and helicopter squadrons for logistics, search-and-rescue, and anti-submarine warfare.
The Ford-class air wing is designed to eventually incorporate the MQ-25 Stingray as a dedicated carrier-based tanker, freeing Super Hornets currently assigned to the buddy-tanker role back to full combat tasking.
Carrier aviation began incorporating unmanned systems in 2013 when the Northrop Grumman X-47B became the first unmanned aircraft to conduct autonomous arrested landings on a carrier deck. The MQ-25 Stingray, built by Boeing, is the first unmanned aircraft procured for operational carrier service. Initial Operational Capability is planned for 2027; the Navy has contracted for at least 72 aircraft.
All 11 US aircraft carriers currently in service are nuclear-powered. Nuclear propulsion gives the carrier a range limited by food and crew endurance rather than fuel. What it does not eliminate is aviation fuel: a carrier at high flight-operations tempo can burn through 400,000 gallons of JP-5 per day. Replenishment happens at sea through Underway Replenishment (UNREP) every three to five days during intensive operations.
Content adapted from publicly available US Navy, NAVSEA, and defence industry references. Vehicle data sourced from the Who That Plane?! gallery.