An F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 213, lands on the flight deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford while operating in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 2, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
The United States has 11 aircraft carriers spread across the world.
Ten are Nimitz-class carriers, including the USS Abraham Lincoln, currently involved in air operations against Iran in Operation Epic Fury.
The USS Gerald Ford, the first of a new class of carriers being built at HII Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, is passing through the Suez Canal to take up position in the Red Sea for attacks on Iran.
USS George H.W. Bush and USS Theodore Roosevelt are completing training ahead of their expected deployments.
Four carriers — USS John C. Stennis, USS Dwight Eisenhower, USS Ronald Reagan and USS Harry Truman — are undergoing maintenance, ranging from the multiyear midlife overhaul of the Stennis to 17-month incremental maintenance for the Eisenhower and Reagan.
The Navy has announced plans to retire the USS Nimitz later this year, and the USS John F. Kennedy is expected to be commissioned and accepted into the Navy in March 2027. It is slated to be homeported at Naval Base Kitsap near Seattle in 2029.
The Navy has struggled to maintain the minimum 11 carriers as required by a law passed by Congress in 2007. Nimitz-class carriers are designed for a service life of 50 years, with a major refueling and overhaul at the 25-year mark.
The last Nimitz-class carrier, USS George H.W. Bush, was commissioned in January 2009. More than eight years passed before the USS Gerald R. Ford, the first of 10 planned new-generation carriers, was commissioned in July 2017. The Ford was designated to replace the former USS Enterprise, which was decommissioned in 2012.
The Navy originally planned to retire the Nimitz in 2025 and the second-oldest carrier of the Nimitz class, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 2026. It revised the timeline late last year so that the Nimitz will retire in 2026, while the Eisenhower — which turns 50 in 2027 — will remain in service until the 2030s. Extensions for the remainder of the Nimitz class carriers are also expected.
With each carrier capable of carrying more than 60 attack jets, as well as reconnaissance, rescue and transport aircraft, the shortage of even one carrier is a significant cut to the ability of the U.S. to project naval power in multiple areas simultaneously, said Mark Cancian, an analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
“When Iran erupted and the president said “help is on the way,” the United states didn’t have the forces, particularly a carrier, to make that threat real,” Cancian said.
The USS Nimitz on patrol in the Pacific in 1981. (Ken Brewer/U.S. Navy)
Commissioned: May 1975.
Location: Off coast of California.
Status: Deployed on Friday for exercises off South America, with eventual shift of homeport to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., later in the spring. The Navy’s oldest aircraft carrier is scheduled to begin retirement proceedings in 2026.
Homeport: Changing from Naval Base Kitsap, Wash., to Naval Station Norfolk.
Commissioned: October 1977.
Location: Naval Station Norfolk.
Status: Undergoing planned incremental availability maintenance.
Homeport: Naval Station Norfolk.
Commissioned: March 1982.
Location: Naval Air Station North Island.
Status: Undergoing post-deployment availability.
Homeport: Naval Air Station North Island.
Commissioned: October 1986.
Location: Naval Air Station North Island.
Status: Undergoing Fleet Replacement Squadron Carrier Qualifications, which trains pilots to transition into combat aircraft they will be flying at sea.
Homeport: Naval Air Station North Island.
An F-35C Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314, launches from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 4, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo) (U.S. Navy)
Commissioned: November 1989.
Location: Currently operating in the Middle East.
Status: Deployed since November 2025, first in the Pacific and then in the Indian Ocean. The Lincoln currently is in the Arabian Sea deployed as part of Operation Epic Fury.
Homeport: Naval Air Station North Island.
Commissioned: July 1992.
Location: Yokosuka, Japan.
Status: The Navy’s only forward homeported aircraft carrier is finishing in-port maintenance.
Homeport: Yokosuka, Japan.
Sailors participate in the installation of a catapult aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis in Newport News, Va., on Oct. 7, 2025. John C. Stennis is in Newport News Shipbuilding conducting Refueling and Complex Overhaul to prepare the ship for the second half of its 50-year service life. (Mekhi Manson/U.S. Navy)
Commissioned: December 1995.
Location: Newport News, Va.
Status: Undergoing multiyear midlife Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) that includes replenishing the two nuclear power plants on a Nimitz-class carrier. Reactors are turned off, and after cooling, rods are removed and replaced with new fuel assemblies. Overhaul of major systems and upgrades to most modern equipment available. Electrical and plumbing systems are updated. Weapons systems, radar, and communications are upgraded.
Homeport: Naval Station Norfolk.
Commissioned: July 1998.
Location: Naval Station Norfolk.
Status: Undergoing Planned Incremental Availability. The Truman would be the next carrier to go into multiyear RICOH after Stennis.
Homeport: Naval Station Norfolk.
USS Ronald Reagan is docked at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility on March 17, 2025. (Wendy M. Hallmark/U.S. Navy)
Commissioned: July 2003.
Location: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash.
Status: Undergoing planned incremental availability. Currently in dry dock. Work schedule to be completed later this year.
Homeport: Naval Base Kitsap.
Commissioned: January 2009.
Location: Naval Station Norfolk.
Status: Finished U.S. Navy Composite Training Unit Exercise, preparing for deployment with a carrier strike group. The George H.W. Bush is preparing for deployment to the Middle East to relieve USS Gerald R. Ford.
Homeport: Naval Station Norfolk.
Commissioned: July 2017.
Location: Middle East in support of Operation Epic Fury. It was previously involved in the operation to seize Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Status: Deployed for attack on Iran. The Ford was sent from Venezuela and has now been deployed for nine months with no date for its eventual return to its homeport.
Homeport: Naval Station Norfolk.
Prior to commissioning, aircraft carriers are officially referred to as PCUs — Pre-Commissioning Units. The ships receive their official name when commissioned into the Navy. Current PCUs and their name once commissioned. The Navy plans on a total of 10 Ford-class carriers. The Secretary of the Navy has the authority to name the four ships.
Commissioning expected: 2027.
Location: Newport News, Va.
Status: Undergoing builder’s sea trials. Slated to replace USS Nimitz in the fleet.
Homeport: Planned for Naval Base Kitsap in 2029.
Commissioning expected: 2030
Location: Newport News, Va.
Status: Under construction. Slated to replace USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in fleet.
Homeport: TBD.
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U.S. Navy sailor Doris Miller with the Navy Cross he received for bravery during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Miller was killed later in World War II. A new Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier will be named in his honor. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
Commissioning: TBD.
Location: Newport News, Va.
Status: Under construction. Slated to replace USS Carl Vinson in fleet.
Homeport: TBD.
Commissioning: TBD.
Location: To be built at Newport News, Va.
Status: Planned. Slated to replace USS Theodore Roosevelt in fleet.
Homeport: TBD.
Commissioning: TBD.
Location: To be built at Newport News, Va.
Status: Planned. Slated to replace USS Abraham Lincoln.
Homeport: TBD.
Navy plans call for four additional unnamed Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers to be built at Newport News, Va., with commissioning in the second half of the 21st century.
