Carrier-based aircraft in the context of "Helicopter carrier"

Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, either from warships that can embark aircraft (e.g. aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships and aircraft cruisers) or from coastal naval air stations.It often involves navalised aircraft, specifically designed for naval use.Seaborne aviation encompasses similar activities not restricted to navies, including marines and coast guards, such as in U.S. naval aviators. As with most army aviation units, naval aviation units are generally separate from a nation's dedicated air force.

Naval aviation operations are typically projected by way of carrier-based aircraft, which must be sturdy enough to withstand the demands of shipborne operations at sea. They must be able to take off from a short runway (typically the flight deck of an aircraft carrier) and be sturdy and flexible enough to come to a sudden stop when landing; they typically have robust folding or swinging wings that reduce the occupied space and thus allow more of them to be stored in below-decks hangars and limited parking spaces on flight decks. These aircraft are designed for many tactical purposes, including aerial combat, airstrike/close air support, anti-submarine warfare, early warning, search and rescue, matériel transport, weather observation, patrol and reconnaissance, and wide-area command and control duties.

An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the capital ship of a fleet (known as a carrier battle group), as it allows a naval force to project seaborne air power far from homeland without depending on local airfields for staging aircraft operations. Since their inception in the early 20th century, aircraft carriers have evolved from wooden vessels used to deploy individual tethered reconnaissance balloons, to nuclear-powered supercarriers that carry dozens of fighters, strike aircraft, military helicopters, AEW&Cs and other types of aircraft such as UCAVs. While heavier fixed-wing aircraft such as airlifters, gunships and bombers have been launched from aircraft carriers, these aircraft do not often land on a carrier due to flight deck limitations.

The aircraft carrier, along with its onboard aircraft and defensive ancillary weapons, is the largest weapon system ever created. By their tactical prowess, mobility, autonomy and the variety of operational means, aircraft carriers are often the centerpiece of modern naval warfare, and have significant diplomatic influence in deterrence, command of the sea and air supremacy. Since the Second World War, the aircraft carrier has replaced the battleship in the role of flagship of a fleet, and largely transformed naval battles from gunfire to beyond-visual-range air strikes. In addition to tactical aptitudes, it has great strategic advantages in that, by sailing in international waters, it does not need to interfere with any territorial sovereignty and thus does not risk diplomatic complications or conflict escalation due to trespassing, and obviates the need for land use authorizations from third-party countries, reduces the times and transit logistics of aircraft and therefore significantly increases the time of availability on the combat zone.

An aircraft catapult is an acceleration device used to help fixed-wing aircraft reach liftoff speed (V_LOF) faster during takeoff, typically when trying to take off from a very short runway, as otherwise the aircraft engines alone cannot get the aircraft to sufficient airspeed quickly enough for the wings to generate the lift needed to sustain flight. Launching via catapults enables aircraft that typically are only capable of conventional takeoffs, especially heavier aircraft with significant payloads, to perform short takeoffs from the roll distances of light aircraft. Catapults are usually used on the deck of a ship — such as the flight deck of an aircraft carrier — as a form of assisted takeoff for navalised aircraft, but can also be installed on land-based runways, although this is rare.

Historically it was most common for seaplanes (which have pontoons instead of wheeled landing gears and thus cannot utilize runways) to be catapulted from ships onto nearby water for takeoff, allowing them to conduct aerial reconnaissance missions and be crane-hoisted back on board during retrieval, although by the late First World War their roles are largely supplanted by the more versatile biplanes that can take off and land on carrier decks unassisted. During the Second World War before the advent of escort carriers, monoplane fighter aircraft (notably the Hawker Hurricane) would sometimes be catapulted from "catapult-equipped merchant" (CAM) vessels for one-way sorties to repel enemy aircraft harassing shipping lanes, forcing the returning pilot to either divert to a land-based airstrip, jump out by parachute, or ditch in the water near the convoy and wait for rescue. By the time fleet carriers became the norm in WW2, catapult launches have become largely unnecessary and carrier-based fighter-bombers would routinely perform self-powered takeoffs and landings off and onto carrier decks, especially during the naval aviation-dominated Pacific War between the United States and the Empire of Japan. However, escalating arms races during the Cold War accelerated the adoption of the heavier jet aircraft for naval operations, thus motivating the development of new catapult systems, especially after the popularization of angled flight decks further limited the practical distance available as takeoff runways. Nowadays, jet aircraft can launch from aircraft carriers via either catapults or ski-jump deck, and perform optics-assisted landing onto the same ship with help from decelerative arresting gears.

The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are a series of American supersonic twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft derived from the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The Super Hornet is in service with the armed forces of the United States, Australia, and Kuwait. The F/A-18E single-seat and F tandem-seat variants are larger and more advanced versions of the F/A-18C and D Hornet, respectively.

A strike fighter capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground/surface missions, the Super Hornet has an internal 20 mm M61A2 rotary cannon and can carry air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, and a variety of other weapons. Additional fuel can be carried in up to five external fuel tanks and the aircraft can be configured as an airborne tanker by adding an external air-to-air refueling system. Designed and initially produced by McDonnell Douglas, the Super Hornet first flew in 1995. Low-rate production began in early 1997, reaching full-rate production in September 1997, after the merger of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing the previous month. An electronic warfare variant, the EA-18G Growler, was also developed. Although officially named "Super Hornet", it is commonly referred to as "Rhino" within the United States Navy.

The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twin-engined, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and ground attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the YF-17 that lost against the YF-16 in the United States Air Force's lightweight fighter program. The United States Navy selected the YF-17 for the Navy Air Combat Fighter program, further developed the design and renamed it F/A-18; the United States Marine Corps would also adopt the aircraft. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations, and formerly by the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels.

The F/A-18 was designed to be a highly versatile aircraft due to its avionics, cockpit displays, and excellent aerodynamic characteristics for high angles-of-attack maneuvers, with the ability to carry a wide variety of weapons. The aircraft can perform fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defenses, air interdiction, close air support, and aerial reconnaissance. Its versatility and reliability have proven it to be a valuable carrier asset.

A navalised aircraft (or navalized aircraft) is an aircraft that is designed for naval usage. A navalised aircraft specifically designed to take off and land from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is called a carrier-based aircraft.

Navalised aircraft include both fixed-wing (including seaplanes, biplanes, monoplanes and flying wings, both propeller- and jet-propelled) and rotary-wing aircraft (helicopters, tiltrotors and, in some cases, multicopters). In many cases, the aircraft is simply a modified variant of a land-based model. They are different to land-based aircraft in that they are designed to tolerate greater corrosion due to humidity and salt weathering around marine environments, handle increased mechanical stress due to harsher air conditions such as strong sea breezes and extreme weathers, and often need to operate on moving vessels at sea, which typically dictates more complex flight control to deal with unsteady sea state and also the ability to perform vertical/short takeoff and landing as there are very limited runway spaces available (or none at all) on deck.

A folding wing is a wing configuration design feature of aircraft to save space and is typical of carrier-based aircraft that operate from the limited deck space of aircraft carriers. The folding allows the aircraft to occupy less space in a confined hangar because the folded wing normally rises over the fuselage decreasing the floor area of the aircraft. Vertical clearance is also limited in aircraft carrier hangar decks. In order to accommodate for this, some aircraft such as the Supermarine Seafire and Fairey Gannet, have additional hinges to fold the wingtips downward, while others such as the A-5 Vigilante and S-3 Viking have folding tails. The F-14 Tomcat's variable-sweep wings can be "overswept" to occupy less space.

A variable-sweep wing, colloquially known as a "swing wing", is an airplane wing, or set of wings, that may be modified during flight, swept back and then returned to its previous straight position. Because it allows the aircraft's shape to be changed, it is a feature of a variable-geometry aircraft.

A straight wing is most efficient for low-speed flight, but for an aircraft designed for transonic or supersonic flight it is essential that the wing be swept. Most aircraft that travel at those speeds usually have wings (either swept wing or delta wing) with a fixed sweep angle. These are simple and efficient wing designs for high speed flight, but there are performance tradeoffs. One is that the stalling speed is increased, necessitating long runways (unless complex high-lift wing devices are built in). Another is that the aircraft's fuel consumption during subsonic cruise is higher than that of an unswept wing. These tradeoffs are particularly acute for naval carrier-based aircraft. A variable-sweep wing allows the pilot to use the optimum sweep angle for the aircraft's speed at the moment, whether slow or fast. The more efficient sweep angles available offset the weight and volume penalties imposed by the wing's mechanical sweep mechanisms. Its greater complexity and cost make it impractical for most commercial applications and result in its use being primarily for military aircraft.