Carriers at War

Aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush cruises deep in the Arabian Gulf for a six-month deployment in April 2017 to help ground troops defeat ISIS. Twenty stories high and more than three football fields long, this 100,000-ton ship carries 70 specialized aircraft armed and ready to fly into battle. Witness an up-close look at life aboard the carrier and the rigorous preparation highly skilled pilots and crew undergo before risking their lives to give air support to allied forces fighting on the ground.

For every F/A-18 leaving the air wing of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, there’s a hardworking team onboard making the war machine run. Witness life aboard the USS George H.W. Bush and see what it takes to successfully operate a carrier. From the command master chief, who’s equal parts guidance counselor and taskmaster to 4,500 sailors, to the air boss directing flight deck operations from the control tower, these are the men and women working around the clock to ready the supercarrier for war, whenever and wherever it’s needed most.

The air wing is a carrier's most powerful weapon, made up of over 70 highly specialized aircraft, including helicopters, cargo planes, electronic-warfare jets, and the most potent weapon of all: its F/A-18 Hornets. Follow the pilots and crew of the USS Truman as they lead America’s fight against ISIS, and look back on how the carrier and its air wing have evolved to become the centerpiece of naval strategy.

Meet the latest U.S. Navy supercarrier to be welcomed into the fleet: USS Gerald R. Ford, the most advanced warship ever built. This state-of-the-art, $14 billion behemoth was built to meet the demands of 21st century warfare, with new features and a new look—it’s the first new carrier design in over 40 years. Get an inside look at the ship’s 13-year journey, from her construction at Newport News Shipbuilding to a technical snag that put the entire program at risk.