Similar to cruise ships, aircraft carrier among the most complex and largest ships sailing the world's oceans. They are floating airfields, accommodate several thousand people and form the heart of modern maritime power projection. Aircraft carriers are at the heart of naval battle groups, enabling reconnaissance, air superiority, protection against attacks and precision strikes against targets hundreds of kilometres away. Although Germany does not have its own aircraft carrier, it benefits indirectly from these large combat ships. The German Navy regularly operates in multinational formations together with allied carriers, and German ships are an integral part of such combat groups. This also applies to the German industry Aircraft carriers play a role: German companies supply technologies, components and concepts that have been incorporated into carrier programmes in France, Great Britain and the USA. In principle, German shipyards are technically capable of building aircraft carriers – provided that the political and legal framework conditions allow this.

What types of aircraft carriers are there?

When people talk about aircraft carriers, many immediately think of the enormous fleet carriers of the US Navy. However, these giants are only the tip of a wide range of types.

Baby carriers – small carriers for limited areas of use

At the lower end of the scale are so-called baby carrier. They are also referred to as maritime patrol vessels, anti-submarine warfare carriers or STOVL carriers. Their displacement starts at around 14,000 tonnes. They do not have nuclear propulsion, which limits their range and speed. The main task of these carriers is to control limited sea areas. To this end, they primarily deploy helicopter supplemented by a few light aircraft. They are not designed for combat against large enemy surface combat groups, but rather for surveillance, security and anti-submarine warfare.

Anti-submarine warfare: a core task of the baby carriers

A key area of application for baby carriers is submarine hunting. Their helicopters can monitor large sea areas using modern sensor technology:

• ditchable sonar buoys
• submersible sonars
• Magnetic and noise detection

If a submarine is detected, the helicopter can bring in additional air or sea units. Often, a so-called Hunter and a killer Together: While the Hunter pursues the target, the Killer attacks with torpedoes that autonomously track and engage the submarine.

STOVL carriers: Aircraft on short decks

Many baby carriers and amphibious carriers rely on STOVL aircraft. STOVL stands for Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing. These aircraft require only short take-off distances and can land vertically. Earlier examples were the harrier, Today, it is primarily the F-35B . Thanks to swivelling engine exhausts, these aircraft generate both propulsion and lift. This means that even smaller ships can operate aircraft, albeit with restrictions in terms of range, payload and operating time. Typical STOVL carriers are:

• the British Invincible class
• the Italian carrier Cavour
• the British Queen Elizabeth class with HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales

With around 80,000 tonnes Displacement: these modern STOVL carriers are significantly larger than classic baby carriers, but still do not use catapults.