The United States currently has 11 active aircraft carriers in service with the U.S. Navy.

Quick Scoop: US Aircraft Carriers

  • The U.S. Navy operates 11 commissioned, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers as of early 2025–2026.
  • These are mostly Nimitz-class carriers plus the newer Ford-class USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78).
  • Federal law also sets 11 carriers as the legal minimum size of the U.S. carrier fleet.

Active fleet overview

  • Multiple independent sources describing “current” or “still in service” U.S. carriers all converge on the same number: 11.
  • Analyses of global carrier fleets likewise list 11 U.S. carriers in operation, far more than any other country.

Extra context (why 11 matters)

  • Defense analyses note that 11 carriers support global presence but only about three to four can be deployed at once due to maintenance and training cycles.
  • Policy commentary highlights that dropping below 11 would conflict with current U.S. legal requirements and could strain crisis response capacity.

Simple answer

So if you’re just looking for the headline for “how many aircraft carriers does the US have”:
→ The U.S. has 11 active aircraft carriers in its Navy today.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.