People associate the Navy with ships and submarines. However, the Navy relies on a wide range of vehicles, including aircraft. In fact, the Navy has more planes compared to ships. The US Navy has over 3,700 operational aircraft and just 290 combat vessels, such as warships. The Navy’s fleet of planes consists of many different types.

The US Navy has the largest fleet of aircraft carriers, with a total of 11 supercarriers currently in service. Each carrier can accommodate a total of 130 F/A-18 Hornets or about 85 to 90 mixed aircraft. On average, the typical carrier has 64 aircraft on board.

The Navy relies on planes for a variety of roles, from search and rescue to combat operations. Planes are also frequently used for electronic warfare, such as radar jamming and aerial surveillance.

When the Navy first began acquiring planes in the late 1910s, they struggled to find manufacturers to meet their limited needs. The US Navy then decided to build a Navy-owned aircraft factory and soon began manufacturing aircraft, starting with the H-16 patrol aircraft.

Along with the Navy-produced H-16, some of the first aircraft used by the Navy were airships. From 1922 to 1935, the US Navy used manned balloons for reconnaissance. During World War II, the Navy began using bomber aircraft, fighter jets, and a variety of other planes.
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