United States of America

The United States now operates 10 Nimitz-class "supercarriers," aircraft carriers that dwarf all other flat-tops worldwide both in size and capability.

The Nimitz carriers are 1,092 feet long and weigh a whopping 101,600 tons—60 percent larger than their nearest counterparts, the Queen Elizabeth class. Each ship is propelled to speeds in excess of 30 knots by a pair of nuclear reactors, giving them nearly unlimited range. The ships are built with high-tensile steel for protection, with layers of Kevlar over vital spaces.

Each Nimitz typically carries an air wing consisting of 24 F/A-18C Hornets, 24 F/A-E/F Super Hornets, 4 to 5 E/A-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, 4 E-2D Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft, 2 C-2 Greyhound transport aircraft, and 6 Seahawk helicopters.

In addition to the Nimitz-class, the United States Navy also operates nine landing helicopter dock ships of the Wasp and America classes. These ships are 843 feet long and displace roughly 40,000 tons. The ships are designed to carry air and land elements of a U.S. Marine corps landing force and have full-length carrier-like flight decks.

Each ship can carry 10 MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor transports, 4 CH-53E heavy transport helicopters, 3 UH-1 Huey helicopters, 4 AH-1Z attack helicopters, and 6 AV-8B Harrier jump jets. With minimal modification, each Wasp can carry 24 Harriers. The America class is optimized towards carrying Marine aviation units and can carry a few more Ospreys. In the near future the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter will replace the Harriers on a 1:1 basis, and the America class will be capable of supporting up to 20 F-35Bs at once.

Two new carriers, USS Gerald R. Ford and USS John F. Kennedy, are under construction, as well as an America-class ship, USS Tripoli.