By role
By configuration
There are three main configurations of aircraft carrier in service in the world's navies, divided by the way in which aircraft take off and land:
By size
Escort carrier
Fleet Carrier A fleet carrier is intended to operate with the main fleet and
usually provides an offensive capability. These are the largest carriers
capable of fast speeds.
By comparison escort carriers were developed to provide defense
for convoys of ships. They were smaller and slower with lower numbers of
aircraft carried. Most were built from mercantile hulls or, in the case of merchant aircraft carriers, were bulk
cargo ships with a flight deck added on top.
Light aircraft carriers were carriers that
were fast enough to operate with the fleet but of smaller size with reduced
aircraft capacity. Soviet aircraft carriers now in use by Russia are actually
called aviation cruisers, these ships while sized in the range of large fleet
carriers were designed to deploy alone or with escorts and provide both strong
defensive weaponry and heavy offensive missiles equivalent to a guided missile
cruiser in addition to supporting fighters and helicopters.
- Anti-submarine warfare carrier
- Helicopter carrier
- Light aircraft carrier
- Amphibious assault ship
- Seaplane tender & seaplane carriers
- Balloon carrier & balloon tenders
By configuration
There are three main configurations of aircraft carrier in service in the world's navies, divided by the way in which aircraft take off and land:
These carriers generally carry the largest, heaviest, and most heavily
armed aircraft, although smaller CATOBAR carriers may have other limitations
(weight capacity of aircraft elevator, etc.).
Three nations currently operate carriers of this type: the United States , France ,
and Brazil
CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier
Arrested Recovery) is a system used for the launch and recovery
of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft
carrier. Under this technique, aircraft launch using a catapult
assisted take off and land on the ship (the
recovery phase) using arrestor wires.
Although this system is more costly than alternative methods, it provides
greater flexibility in carrier operations, since it allows the vessel to
support conventional aircraft. Only three countries currently operate carriers
that use the CATOBAR system; the U.S. Nimitz class, and USS Enterprise (CVN-65), France's Charles De Gaulle,
and Brazil's NAe São Paulo
These carriers are generally limited to carrying lighter fixed-wing
aircraft with more limited payloads. STOBAR carrier airwings, such as the Sukhoi
Su-33 and future Mikoyan MiG-29K wings of the Admiral Kuznetsov
are often geared primarily towards the air superiority and fleet defense roles
rather than strike/power projection tasks which require heavier payloads (bombs
and air-to-ground missiles).
Currently, only Russia
possesses an operational carrier of this type, with India
and China
Short take-off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft
from the deck of an aircraft carrier, combining elements of both short
take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) and catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery (CATOBAR).
Aircraft launch under their own power using a ski-jump to assist take-off (rather than using a catapult
like most carriers). However, these are conventional, rather than STOVL
aircraft, and thus require arrestor wires to land on the ship. The STOBAR
system is simpler to build than CATOBAR — but it works only with light, and
lightly armed, fighter aircraft that have a high thrust to weight ratio. The Russian
Navy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is
the only current example of a STOBAR carrier. Under construction carriers that
will feature a STOBAR configuration include the Chinese aircraft carrier ex-Varyag
and the Indian INS Vikramaditya (formerly the Soviet
carrier Admiral Gorshkov), as well as the future Vikrant class aircraft carrier.
3. Short
take-off vertical-landing (STOVL):
Limited to carrying STOVL aircraft. STOVL aircraft, such as the Harrier
Jump Jet family and Yakovlev Yak-38 generally have very limited
payloads, lower performance, and high fuel consumption when compared with
conventional fixed wing aircraft; however, newer STOVL
aircraft such as the F-35
have much improved performance. This type of aircraft carrier is operated by
India, Spain, and Italy with five in active service; the UK and Thailand
each have one active carrier but without any operational STOVL aircraft in
inventory. Some also count the nine US
By size
Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term
for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.
The U.S. Navy currently has 11 such ships.
In comparison, a few countries operate what are by today's standards medium
carriers (fleet carrier) of around 42,000 tons such as the French aircraft
carrier Charles de Gaulle
(R91). The size and configuration of the Charles de Gaulle corresponds
closely with the 45,000 ton Midway class the United
States built at the end of World War II, as a successor class to the much more
numerous 27,000 ton Essex-class aircraft
carrier which did the heavy lifting in WWII after 1943 when they entered
service.
Internationally, light carriers closer to 20,000 tons (such as HMS Illustrious) are more typical.
Supercarriers are the largest warships ever built eclipsing even the largest battleship
classes laid down by all countries
A fleet carrier is an aircraft
carrier that is designed to operate with the main fleet of a nation's navy. The term was
developed during the Second World War, to distinguish it from the escort
carrier and other lesser types.
Fleet carriers include supercarriers and light
carriers (light fleet carriers), as well as standard fleet carriers
A light aircraft carrier is an aircraft
carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy.
The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers
typically have a complement of aircraft only ½ to ⅔ the size of a full-sized or
"fleet" carrier.
A light carrier was a similar concept to an escort
carrier in most respects, however light carriers were intended for higher
speeds to be deployed alongside fleet carriers, while escort carriers usually
defended convoys and provided air support during amphibious operations
Escort carrier
The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, also called a
"jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or
"Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft
carrier used by the British Royal Navy
(RN), the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force,
and the United States Navy (USN) in World War
II. They were typically half the length and 1/3 the displacement of the
larger fleet carriers. While they were slower, less armed and armored, and
carried fewer planes, they were less expensive and could be built in less time.
This was their principal advantage, as escort carriers could be completed in
greater numbers as a stop-gap when fleet carriers were scarce. However, the
lack of protection made escort carriers particularly vulnerable and several
were sunk with great loss of life. The light carrier (hull classification symbol CVL) was a
similar concept to escort carriers in most respects, however they were intended
for higher speeds to be deployed alongside fleet carriers.
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