Description
Aircraft carriers are the centerpiece of America's Naval forces – the most adaptable and survivable airfields in the world. On any given day, Sailors aboard an aircraft carrier and its air wing come to the fight trained and equipped across a full range of missions. They are ready to control the sea, conduct strikes, and maneuver across the electromagnetic spectrum and cyberspace. No other naval force fields a commensurate range and depth of combat capabilities. 
 

Features
Aircraft carriers continue to be the centerpiece of the forces necessary for operating forward. In times of crisis, the first question leaders ask is: "Where are the carriers?"

Often the presence of an aircraft carrier has deterred potential adversaries from striking against U.S. interests. Aircraft carriers support and operate aircraft that engage in attacks on airborne, afloat and ashore targets that threaten free use of the sea and engage in sustained power projection operations in support of U.S. and coalition forces.

The aircraft carrier and its strike group also engage in maritime security operations to interdict threats to merchant shipping and prevent the use of the seas for terrorism and piracy. Aircraft carriers also provide unique capabilities for disaster response and humanitarian assistance. The embarked carrier air wing provides helicopters for direct support and C4I assets to support them and ensure aid is routed quickly and safely.

The Nimitz and Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers are the largest warships in the world, each designed for an approximately 50-year service life with just a single mid-life refueling.
USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), and USS George Washington (CVN 73) have all completed their refueling complex overhauls (RCOH) at Newport News, Virginia, with USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) currently in Refueling Complex Overhaul.

The lead ship of the next generation of aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) was delivered in 2017 as the force structure replacement for USS Enterprise (CVN 65), which was inactivated in 2012.