Onboard the US Navy (USN) Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier, USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76), USN (red shirt) Aviation Ordnancemen assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 113 (VFA-113) group lift an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) onto a USN F/A-18C Hornet aircraft spotted on the flight deck. The REAGAN is currently on its maiden deployment conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the Persian Gulf, while participating in the global war on terrorism

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.