A Ka-27 Helix helicopter stands on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS RANGER (CV-61) shortly after the Helix landed aboard the vessel. The Helix is from the guided missile destroyer Admiral Vinogradov (BPD-554) which, along with the RANGER, is part of a multinational naval force participating in exercises in the region

Aircraft carriers are warships that act as airbases for carrier-based aircraft. In the United States Navy, these consist of ships commissioned with hull classification symbols CV (aircraft carrier), CVA (attack aircraft carrier), CVB (large aircraft carrier), CVL (light aircraft carrier), CVN (aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion) and CVAN (attack aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion). The first aircraft carrier commissioned into the United States Navy was USS Langley (CV-1) on 20 March 1922.