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Topic: Naval Warfare Blog Brand: The Buzz Region: Americas Tags: Aircraft Carriers, North America, United States, US Navy, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), USS George Washington (CVN-73), USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74), USS Nimitz (CVN-68), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) Where Are America’s Aircraft Carriers Now? January 1, 2026 By: Peter Suciu
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Although the US Navy has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in active service, only around half are deployed at any given time—with the rest in port or undergoing maintenance.
The United States Navy operates the largest fleet of nuclear-powered supercarriers in the world. With 11 in active service, the US Navy has more aircraft carriers than the navies of China, the UK, India, France, Italy, and Spain—combined!
Yet, the status and actual “availability” of the 10 Nimitz-class and one Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers are not as cut-and-dry as they seem. Rarely are more than five or six deployed at a time.
Here is the current status of the US Navy’s aircraft carriers:
USS Nimitz (CVN-68)
Commissioned: May 3, 1975
Current Status: In Port (Bremerton, Washington); preparing for decommissioning
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) underway in the Red Sea in 2013. The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group was deployed to the US 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts. (Wikimedia Commons)
USS Nimitz began her final deployment in March and recently returned to her homeport at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, for the final time. In the weeks to come, she will transfer to Norfolk, Virginia, by April 2026 to begin decommissioning and deactivation, including the defueling of her nuclear reactors. That process will mark the end of the line for the US Navy’s oldest operational nuclear-powered carrier.
Background: Named after Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the United States Navy’s last five-star admiral, the keel of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) was laid on June 22, 1968. The largest warship at the time of her commissioning on May 3, 1975, she has served in the Navy for more than 50 years.
As a floating airbase, USS Nimitz is typically embarked with approximately 60 aircraft, including a variety of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft with up to 90 of various types. The aircraft now include F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, F/A-18 Hornets, E-2 Hawkeyes, EA-6B Prowlers, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters. The carriers could also deploy the S-3B Viking, before it was phased out and replaced by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
Commissioned: October 18, 1977
Current Status: In Port (Portsmouth, Virginia)
The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) transits the Persian Gulf in August 2016. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Casey J. Hopkins)
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower returned to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, on July 14, 2024. The ship began a Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) maintenance period in January 2025. Her next deployment has not been announced, but she is expected to leave port in early 2026.
Background: The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) is the second-oldest nuclear-powered flattop in service in the world today. However, like the USS Nimitz, her days are also numbered; she is currently scheduled to be replaced around 2029, when the new Gerald R. Ford-class supercarrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80) enters service. The current timeline is already later than the originally planned 2028 retirement date, due to delays in the Ford-class program.
Named in honor of the 34th president of the United States and General of the Army, Congress authorized construction of the carrier in 1970, which it commissioned seven years later.
Over its lengthy service history, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has been deployed to a litany of combat operations. The ship’s first deployment was during the ill-fated Operation Eagle Claw during the 1980 Iran hostage crisis. A decade later, one of the carrier’s most notable deployments took place during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. CVN-69 made history when she became the second nuclear-powered carrier ever to pass through the Suez Canal.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower hosts Carrier Air Wing Three, sometimes known as the “Battle Axe.” Its air wing has a total of 90 aircraft, including F/A-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2 Hawkeyes, C-2 Greyhounds, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.
USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)
Commissioned: March 13, 1982
Current Status: In Port (San Diego, California)
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) transits the Pacific Ocean in May 2015. (Wikimedia Commons)
The USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) returned to its home port in San Diego on August 14 after a deployment that included operations in the US 3rd, 5th, and 7th Fleet areas of operation. The deployment lasted 269 days, making it the longest in the carrier’s history. The warships are now in port undergoing maintenance.
The US Navy has not announced when USS Carl Vinson will next deploy.
Background: The third Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), is named for the late Carl Vinson (D-Georgia), who represented the Peach State in the House of Representatives for a remarkable 51 years—and earned the nicknames “Swamp Fox” and “the Admiral” for his support of naval affairs. Although he never served in the Navy, Vinson served as chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee in 1931 and played a pivotal role in guiding the US Navy through World War II and the early Cold War. He was a strong advocate of the Two-Ocean Navy Act, which dramatically increased the naval budget by 70 percent.
The USS Carl Vinson was launched in 1980 and officially entered service in 1983. During more than four decades in service, the carrier has earned multiple Battle Effectiveness Awards (Battle “E”) for her role in naval operations in 1990, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2011, 2015, and 2018. USS Carl Vinson has been awarded additional honors, including the Navy Unit Commendation, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Following the successful Navy SEAL raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, the terrorist leader’s body was buried at sea in 2011 from the deck of the warship.
During her most recent deployment, CVN-70 took part in Exercise Pacific Steller 2025 with the Maritime Nationale (French Navy) and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in the Philippine Sea, and in the subsequent Exercise Freedom Shield 25, carried out joint aerial drills with the United States Air Force and the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF).
In March, USS Carl Vinson was ordered to the Middle East and arrived in April, when it carried out strikes on the Houthi militants in Yemen as part of Operation Rough Rider. During the deployment, the carrier and its strike group sailed more than 275,000 nautical miles, and its air wing conducted in excess of 10,000 sorties.
The Carl Vinson is supported by Carrier Air Wing Two, consisting of nine air squadrons, or around 90 aircraft. CVW-2 flies F/A-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2 Hawkeyes, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters—as well as the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and the F-35C Lightning II, the carrier version of the F-35.
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
Commissioned: October 25, 1986
Current Status: Deployed (Eastern Pacific)
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) operates in the Arabian Sea conducting maritime security operations in April 2015. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Anthony N. Hilkowski)
The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) has been conducting exercises in the US 3rd Fleet area of operations in the Eastern Pacific to enhance combat readiness. According to ship spotters, she departed San Diego on November 10, after completing her PIA in September.
Background: The fourth Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, CVN-71 is named for the 26th president.
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) was the first US Navy aircraft carrier to be assembled in large sections, or modules. Much like building a model, innovative construction techniques have been used on every aircraft carrier since. The use of modules also sped her construction; she was launched in October 1984 and commissioned two years later, in October 1986. The carrier began her maiden deployment in late December 1988 with Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8) embarked.
CVN-71 is now one of the most decorated warships of the post-Cold War era. Her awards include a Joint Meritorious Unit Award, three Navy Unit Commendations, five Battle Efficiency Awards (Battle “E”), two National Defense Service Medals, two Security Excellence Awards, and a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, among others. The warship was also awarded a NATO Medal, as well as Kuwait Liberation Medals from both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
USS Theodore Roosevelt is home to Carrier Air Wing Eleven. Like its sister air wings, CVW-11 has a strength of roughly 90 aircraft, including F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2C Hawkeyes, C-2A Greyhounds and MH-60R/S Seahawk helicopters.
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
Commissioned: November 11, 1989
Current Status: Deployed (Eastern Pacific)
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) conducts high-speed turn drills in the Atlantic Ocean during sea trials In May 2017. Abraham Lincoln was underway after successfully completing its mid-life refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) and spent several days conducting comprehensive tests of many of the ship’s key systems and technologies. (Wikimedia Commons)
CVN-72 also quietly departed from Naval Station San Diego on Friday, November 21, for a Pacific deployment. Her current mission is part of Carrier Strike Group 3 and includes Carrier Air Wing Nine and the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121).
Background: The second US Navy vessel named after the 16th president—after the Cold War-era George Washington-class ballistic missile submarine—CVN-72 was commissioned in November 1989. Over the past three and a half decades in service, USS Abraham Lincoln has carried out multiple humanitarian missions in the Persian Gulf and Pacific region. It has taken part in multiple combat operations.
USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in San Diego in December 2024, ending her previous deployment and participating in numerous exercises, including Northern Edge 2025. CVN-72 was initially deployed in August 2024 to the Indo-Pacific region, but was ordered to the Red Sea in August to relieve USS Theodore Roosevelt, as part of the service’s ongoing carrier rotation in the Middle East.
In late 2024, while operating as part of CENTCOM’s 5th Fleet, USS Abraham Lincoln conducted air strikes on the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. That included the first-ever combat sortie of a Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II, the carrier-based variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. In November, F-35C aircraft, assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 (VMFA-314), “conducted multiple strikes on Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen,” U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, US Fifth Fleet, explained.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is host to Carrier Air Wing Nine. CVW-9 is divided into eight squadrons; like the Carl Vinson, it operates roughly 90 F-35C Lightning II, F/A-18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, E-2 Hawkeye, V-22 Osprey, and MH-60 Seahawk aircraft.
USS George Washington (CVN-73)
Commissioned: July 4, 1992
Current Status: Deployed (Indo-Pacific)
USS George Washington (CVN-73) makes a speed run in the Atlantic Ocean while conducting carrier qualifications in November 2001. (US Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Heather Hess)
The United States Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, based at Yokosuka, Japan, arrived in Guam in early December, after supporting salvage operations for two aircraft that crashed in the waters of the South China Sea in October. A Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and a Sikorsky MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter crashed within 30 minutes of each other while operating from CVN-68.
Background: USS George Washington (CVN-73), the fourth US Navy warship to honor the Founding Father and the nation’s first president, arrived in Yokosuka in November 2024 after sailing from Norfolk, Virginia. The flattop had previously served as the forward-deployed carrier in 2008, becoming the first nuclear-powered warship to fill that role. It last departed Yokosuka in 2014.
Following the George Washington’s return to the United States in 2014, it was unclear whether the warship would return to Japan—or even remain in service. At the time, there were serious discussions in the Pentagon about taking the carrier out of service due to budget reductions. The nuclear-powered carrier was due for her mid-life refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH), an expensive and time-consuming process intended to double the service life of each Nimitz-class supercarrier.
However, the decision was made to keep the warship in service and to complete the RCOH, but few could have expected the ordeal that was to come. The process typically takes around three years, but USS George Washington underwent a brutally long repair period that lasted more than 2,100 days (nearly six years).
According to the ship’s manufacturer, Newport News Shipbuilding, budgetary constraints, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and labor issues all contributed to the carrier’s lengthy overhaul. Unfortunately for the crew, it meant living and working on what was essentially a construction site for several years. It took a hefty toll on the crew, with nine sailors dying by suicide during the process.
Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5), consisting of around 90 aircraft, is stationed on board the USS George Washington. Its contingent includes F-35C Lightning II fighter jets, F/A-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2 Hawkeyes, CMV-22 Ospreys, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.
USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74)
Commissioned: December 9, 1995
Current Status: Undergoing RCOH (Newport News, Virginia)
The guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG 106) fires a MK 45 5-inch gun during a sea-power demonstration alongside USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in May 2016 in the South China Sea. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Tomas Compian)
The USS John C. Stennis began its midlife Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) in 2021 and was originally on track to see the work completed by August 2025. However, It was announced in August 2024 that the warship won’t return to service on schedule, as the carrier’s RCOH maintenance period will take longer than expected—about five and a half years in total, an extension of around 14 months from its planned schedule.
Work was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and unexpected damage, resulting in delays. The current timeline calls for the carrier to return to service in October 2026.
As with all ships coming out of RCOH, CVN-74 will be better than new. In addition to a repainted hull and upgrades to the propeller shaft and other components, conditions on the ship will be improved for the crew, and she will be ready to operate with the fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II.
Background: The seventh Nimitz-class supercarrier was named for longtime Democratic Sen. John C. Stennis of Mississippi. The lawmaker, who served as the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1969 until 1981, was seen as an odd choice for such an honor—yet it still gained the approval of then-President Ronald Reagan in 1988.
In contrast to some of the US Navy’s other aircraft carriers, the Stennis has had a relatively quiet service life. Notable exceptions came in 2007, when the ship served a tour in the Persian Gulf, and in 2012, when it helped to rescue the crew of an Iranian-flagged vessel hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Oman.
For most of the 21st century, the Stennis played host to Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9). However, CVW-9 was ultimately transferred to the USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2020, ahead of the Stennis’ RCOH period.
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)
Commissioned: July 25, 1998
Current Status: In Port, Preparing for RCOH (Norfolk, Virginia)
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) conducts flight operations in the Gulf of Oman in November 2013. (Wikimedia Commons)
Following an eight-month deployment in the US 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operations, USS Harry S. Truman arrived at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on June 1.
Background: The USS Harry S. Truman was named for the 33rd president of the United States—and the only president from Missouri—after the strenuous efforts of Ike Skelton, a Missourian member of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 2011.
CVN-75’s most recent deployment was not without incident. In February, the 100,000-ton warship collided with a 53,000-ton Panamanian-flagged cargo ship while operating in the Mediterranean Sea near Port Said, Egypt. The impact with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M damaged a sponson on the starboard side near one of the aircraft elevators, and it tore through the exterior bulkheads of two storage rooms as well as a maintenance space. The damaged area was covered by a banner when she was pierside during President Donald Trump’s speech in Norfolk, Virginia, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Continental Navy.
The Navy confirmed the damage won’t be addressed until CVN-75 begins her RCOH next year, after the Stennis’ RCOH concludes. The process is expected to sideline the carrier for three to four years.
Besides the damage taken during the collision, CVN-75 also returned from her extended deployment with three fewer fighters from her air wing.
One of the carrier’s F/A-18 Super Hornets was shot down in a friendly fire incident in December 2024, mistakenly identified as a hostile missile and fired upon by the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG-64), one of the warships in the Truman carrier strike group (CSG). Fortunately, the pilots were able to eject safely and were quickly rescued.
In April and May, two other Super Hornets were lost while the carrier was operating in the Red Sea. The first of those two aircraft fell off the supercarrier while being towed to the hangar, and reportedly occurred as USS Harry S. Truman endeavored to avoid a Houthi attack. Another F/A-18 crashed into the Red Sea just weeks later after a malfunction of its arrestment system, which is needed to slow the fighter as it lands on the flight deck. The pilot also ejected and was rescued.
The Harry S. Truman hosts Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1), consisting of roughly 90 aircraft—including F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets, EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets, E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, C-2 Greyhound reconnaissance aircraft, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)
Commissioned: July 12, 2003
Current Status: In Port, Undergoing Scheduled Maintenance (Bremerton, Washington)
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Higgins (DDG 76), and USS Antietam (CG 54), conduct an archipelagic sea lane passage through the San Bernardino Strait in August 2022. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, and supports alliances, partnerships and collective maritime interests in the Indo-Pacific region. (Wikimedia Commons)
The Reagan is completing a 17-month scheduled maintenance period that began in April. She is now expected to emerge from dry dock in late 2026.
Background: The USS Ronald Reagan is named for America’s 40th president, who served from 1981 until 1989 and oversaw massive increases in US military spending. While in office, Reagan envisioned a “600-ship navy” to combat the Soviet Union and America’s other adversaries around the world. These plans were ultimately curtailed by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union two years later, under the leadership of Reagan’s vice president and successor, George H.W. Bush.
The US Navy’s ninth Nimitz-class carrier had been the forward-deployed flattop until last year, and she spent part of the summer of 2024 conducting a “hull swap” with CVN-73 in San Diego, before arriving at her new home port of Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Washington, on August 13, 2024.
USS Ronald Reagan first arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, in 2015, and served as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5 (CSG-5) under the US Navy’s 7th Fleet. As the US Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, CVN-76 took part in dozens of multilateral exercises and made port-of-call visits to numerous foreign ports. That included a historic visit to Da Nang, Vietnam, in 2023—only the third time a US Navy carrier had visited the country since the Vietnam War. During an earlier deployment to the Indo-Pacific, CVN-76 provided humanitarian aid as part of Operation Tomodachi, following the devastating 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear disaster that impacted northeastern Japan.
Prior to its regularly scheduled maintenance period, USS Ronald Reagan hosted Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5), which hosts 90 aircraft of various types—including F-35C Lightning II fighter jets and V-22 Ospreys tiltrotor aircraft. CVW-5 has since been transferred to the USS George Washington.
USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77)
Commissioned: October 7, 2006
Current Status: In Port (Norfolk, Virginia)
The US Navy’s newest Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) underway in the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009, conducting carrier qualifications. (Wikimedia Commons)
USS George H.W. Bush is currently at her homeport of Naval Station Norfolk and has completed a maintenance and modernization period. She is now preparing for an underway period involving fleet replacement squadron carrier qualifications. Her deployment is slated to begin in January.
Background: CVN-77 is named for George H.W. Bush, a Navy veteran and the 41st president of the United States. The ship is only the second carrier to be named for a naval aviator, with the USS Forrestal (CV-59) being the first. The modularly constructed ship was officially christened on October 7, 2006. It was a notable event as the former president became the first to attend such a ceremony for his namesake vessel. She was delivered to the Navy in May 2009.
CVN-77 was also the second carrier after USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) to feature a modernized island with a new radar tower. That island is smaller and has been repositioned much further aft, intended to improve flight deck access while reducing signature and electronic self-interference.
USS George H.W. Bush is supported by Carrier Air Wing Seven, which includes 90 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft—including F/A-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2 Hawkeyes, C-2 Greyhounds, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)
Commissioned: July 22, 2017
Current Status: Deployed (Caribbean)
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) steams the Atlantic Ocean during a simulated straits transit with the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) in the Atlantic Ocean in October 2022. (Wikimedia Commons)
The United States Navy’s newest, largest, and most capable supercarrier is now operating in the Caribbean Sea in the US Southern Command area of responsibility to support US counter-narcotics efforts.
The arrival of the Ford’s carrier strike group to the Caribbean has significantly increased the US Navy’s presence there. In addition to the Ford and her strike group, there are already at least eight warships in the Caribbean, including three destroyers, a cruiser, a littoral combat ship, an amphibious assault ship, two transports, and a nuclear-powered submarine.
CVN-78 has been on active deployment since June 24, when she departed her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia. She briefly operated in the Mediterranean, before heading to northern Europe for joint operations with NATO allies, including Norway, Germany, and France during the third iteration of “Neptune Strike 2025” in the North Sea. She moved to the Caribbean on Nov. 16.
Background: The USS Gerald R. Ford was named for Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States and the only president never to have been elected either to the presidency or the vice presidency. (A longtime congressman from Michigan, Ford was elevated to the vice presidency in December 1973 after the resignation of Spiro Agnew, then to the presidency after the resignation of Richard Nixon four months later.) Ford was also a veteran of the US Navy; he served in the Pacific during World War II and survived the notorious “Halsey’s Typhoon” in November 1944.
The USS Gerald R. Ford hosts Carrier Air Wing Eight, including F/A-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2 Hawkeyes, C-2 Greyhounds, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.
We will continue to monitor the movements and deployments of the US Navy’s fleet of nuclear-powered supercarriers and update this list as needed.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
Image: Shutterstock / GreenOak.
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Источник: nationalinterest.org