An Attack Squadron 72 (VA-72) A-7E Corsair aircraft receives fuel from an Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft while on a training flight following the cease-fire between coalition and Iraqi forces. The aircraft is carrying an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile on its port fuselage pylon. VA-72 is based aboard the aircraft carrier USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV-67), which is operating in the Red Sea

Aircraft carriers are warships that act as airbases for carrier-based aircraft. In the United States Navy, these consist of ships commissioned with hull classification symbols CV (aircraft carrier), CVA (attack aircraft carrier), CVB (large aircraft carrier), CVL (light aircraft carrier), CVN (aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion) and CVAN (attack aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion). The first aircraft carrier commissioned into the United States Navy was USS Langley (CV-1) on 20 March 1922.