Aviation Electronics Technician 3rd Class Joseph Albright assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron One Four Six (VFA-146), conducts tests on the forward looking infrared receiver in a F/A-18 Hornet aboard the aircraft carrier USS NIMITZ (CVN 68). Nimitz and her embarked air wing have been operating in the Persian Gulf to provide U.S. Naval forward presence while enforcing UN sanctions against Iraq by patrolling the no-fly zone under operation Southern Watch

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.