The World Aircraft Carrier Fleet
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An overview of the world aircraft carrier fleet - country, name, configuration, tonnage, aircraft.
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 article feature back | print | bookmark the world aircraft carrier fleet an overview in the early twenty first century, many countries still see the aircraft carrier as a viable platform for projecting power &ndash there are currently nine countries which have carriers in service brazil, france, india, italy, russia, spain, thailand, united kingdom and the united states surprisingly, china does not yet formally have a carrier in service, though this is expected to change in the next few years the shi-lang is undergoing sea-trials, august 2011 japan is also expected to join the elite group of countries which have floating naval airbases the total number of carriers in service worldwide is currently twenty two, with half of that fleet being in us service at least eight countries have new carriers at the concept, design, bought/refurbish or build stages spain in particular has been successful in selling its &lsquo principe de asturias&rsquo design to other countries, and china, japan and india are developing the capability to build their own carriers &ndash in china&rsquo s case, a nuclear powered carrier the advent of the naval version of the uk sea harrier vtol vertical take off and landing aircraft, used for example by india, spain and italy, has enabled these countries to deploy viable carrier power with the sea harrier in its various forms becoming increasingly difficult to support, the us f35 family jsf &ndash joint strike aircraft can only increase the viability of the stobar carriers despite the vast concentration of power and investment both political and financial in what many see as a very visible and vulnerable target, the aircraft carrier is a keystone of military doctrine in the armoury of these countries russia, with only one operational aircraft carrier at present, is an exception the country extends for almost 12 time zones &ndash halfway around the world - and its perceived strategic opponents are all within the northern hemisphere arguably, with a fleet of modern land-based aircraft and up to date missile technology, it can therefore project its power without the need for a large carrier fleet below is a table of world aircraft carrier tonnage world aircraft carrier fleet 21st century operational country name classification configuration tonnage in service n = nuclear powered first owner brazil sao paulo a12 fleet carrier catobar 32,800 2000 1963 china shi-lang fleet carrier stobar 60,000 2012 france charles de gaulle r31 fleet carrier n catobar 42,000 2001 india viraat r22 fleet carrier stovl 28,700 1987 1953 italy giuseppe garibaldi 551 light aircraft carrier stovl 13,850 1985 cavour 550 fleet carrier stovl 30,000 2008 russia admiral flota sovetskovo soyuza kuznetsov fleet carrier stobar 58,600 1991 spain principe de asturias r11 light aircraft carrier stovl 17,200 1988 juan carlos i l61 light aircraft carrier stovl 27,000 2010 thailand hmts chakri naruebet light aircraft carrier v/stol 11,400 1997 united kingdom hms illustrious r06 light aircraft carrier stovl 22,000 1982 united states uss enterprise cvn-65 supercarrier n catobar 95,000 1961 uss nimitz cvn-68 supercarrier n catobar 100,000 1975 uss dwight d eisenhower cvn-69 supercarrier n catobar 102,000 1977 uss carl vinson cvn-70 supercarrier n catobar 101,000 1982 uss theodore roosevelt cvn-71 supercarrier n catobar 105,000 1986 uss abraham lincoln cvn-72 supercarrier n catobar 100,000 1989 uss george washington cvn-73 supercarrier n catobar 104,000 1992 uss john c stennis cvn-74 supercarrier n catobar 103,000 1995 uss harry s truman cvn-75 supercarrier n catobar 104,000 1998 uss ronald reagan cvn-76 supercarrier n catobar 101,000 2003 uss george h w bush cvn-77 supercarrier n catobar 102,000 2009 number in commission 21 tonnage 1,460,550 nb hms ark royal decommissioned 2011 c james marinero 2011 ↑ back to top