Flight deck personnel on board the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS NIMITZ (CVN 68), prepare an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to Marine Fighter-Attack Squadron Three One Four (VMFA-314) for launch. Visiable is an AIM-9 short range air-to-air missile on the outer wing tip. Nimitz and her embarked air wing are currently deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of UN sanctions against Iraq to enforce the No-Fly Zone over southern Iraq in support of 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.