LT. CMDR. Mark Fox of Strike Fighter Squadron 81 (VFA-81) sits in the cockpit of the F/A-18C Hornet aircraft that he was flying when he became the first coalition pilot to shoot down an Iraqi MiG aircraft during Operation Desert Storm. VFA-81 is based aboard the aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA (CV-60)

Fighter planes and military aircrafts.

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.