There are 30 Carrier-Based Navy Airplanes in the Military Factory.
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BAe Sea Harrier F/A.2 The Sea Harrier F/A.2 represents an upgrade to the existing Sea Harrier FRS.1 system (the FRS designation was later dropped in favor of the F/A depicted here). Among the improvements to the base Sea Harrier system are a redes...
BAe Sea Harrier FRS.1 The Sea Harrier FRS.1 holds a unique distinction stemming from successes in the Falklands War with Argentina where it maintained a kill-to-loss ratio of 28-0. This phenomenal total was thanks in part to the superb training an...
Boeing / McDonnell Douglas / Northrop F/A-18 Hornet The F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine carrier-based attack fighter currently in frontline service with a variety of forces worldwide. Derived from the failed YF-17 Cobra attempt at a new USAF lightweight fighter (the F-17 lost o...
Boeing / McDonnell Douglas / Northrop F/A-18 Super Hornet The Super Hornet is the latest, and most likely the ultimate, evolution in the F/A-18 Hornet series of precision strike aircraft covering carrierborne operations. Produced by a consortium of contractors that includes Boeing a...
Boeing AV-8B / BAe GR.7 Harrier II The AV-8B Harrier II was a follow up design undertaken by the McDonnell Douglas corporation with the junior partner being the British Aerospace Corporation (BAe). The system built upon the successes encountered during use of ...
Breguet Br.1050 Alize (Tradewind) The Breguet Br.1050 "Alize" (meaning "tradewind") was a French production aircraft suitable for carrier-based anti-submarine warfare (ASW) tactics. The system was fielded in limited quantity throughout the Cold War and proved...
Chance Vought F7U Cutlass The Chance Vought F7U Cutlass was an interesting aircraft in many ways. For one, the aircraft was the direct result of American research into the jet designs and technologies of the Arado company - the German aircraft firm th...
Dassault Etendard The base Dassault-produced Etendard (meaning "Standard") was a private venture that was initially greeted without much fervor. When the French Navy came looking for a lightweight carrier-capable platform, the Etendard series ...
Dassault Super Etendard (Standard) The Dassault Super Etendard ("Standard") was a further development of the base Etendard platform that performed well in service with the French Navy. The system saw deliveries start from the late 1970's onward and by the end ...
de Havilland D.H.110 Sea Vixen In the 1950's, the de Havilland production of the Sea Vixen became the Royal Navy's first swept wing fighter design and Britain's first all-missile aircraft. The Sea Vixen was selected to replace the Sea Venom and became a fo...
Fairey Firefly The Fairey Firefly was a hugely successful, two-seat, carrierborne fighter aircraft serving with the Royal Fleet Air Arm through the latter half of the Second World War, eventually seeing service up until the mid-1950's. The ...
Grumman A-6 Intruder The Grumman A-6 Intruder series of strike aircraft was designed to a United States Navy specification drawn up covering an attack aircraft capable carrying and delivering large payloads over distance and in any weather. The i...
Grumman F11F / F-11 Tiger The Grumman-produced F11F Tiger was designed at about the time the Grumman Cougar was already close to production. The program goal of the Tiger series was to produce a highly-capable daytime fighter with exceptional dogfight...
Grumman F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat-series of variable-geometry wing carrier-capable interceptors is one of the true living success stories of Cold War aircraft design. The system was popularized by the Hollywood motion picture "Top Gun"...
Grumman F4F Wildcat The Grumman-produced F4F Wildcat series of aircraft was initially proposed to the United States Navy as a biplane-only design, which would explain the visual appearance of the stout fuselage (originally designed to carry two ...
Grumman F6F Hellcat The F6F Hellcat continued the feline-inspired naming convention for the Grumman series. Build upon the successes of the F4F design, the superceded all expectations and became the star of the air war in the Pacific Theater. Su...
Grumman F8F Bearcat The F8F Bearcat arrive too late in the Second World War to be used but nevertheless enjoyed a long stay aboard many an aircraft carrier across the globe. The F8F Bearcat was designed to meet the United States Navy specificati...
Grumman F9F Cougar The F9F Cougar was a direct and further development of the F9F Panther (detailed elsewhere on this site. The similarities between the two were limited to just the forward fuselage of the Panther being used in the Cougar desig...
Grumman F9F Panther The Grumman F9F Panther series saw extensive combat in the Korean War for the United States Navy, accounting for over 78,000 combat sorties. The system was primarily utilized as a close-support strike aircraft but could hold ...
Hawker Sea Hurricane The Hawker Sea Hurricane appeared in 1941 in an effort to protect British merchant ships from German naval attacks. Basically modified versions of the successful Hawker land-based Hurricane fighters, Sea Hurricanes were at fi...
McDonnell FH-1 Phantom The FH-1 Phantom served with the United States Navy as their first jet-powered carrer-based aircraft up until 1950 and was in design as early as 1943. The system featured a straight wing design, twin Westinghouse engines, a c...
Mitsubishi A6M Reisen (Zeke) With a design history beginning as early as 1937, the A6M series (commonly referred to as the "Zero" or by the Allied codename of "Zeke") became the first carrierborne fighter aircraft to supercede all other land-based counte...
North American FJ-1 Fury The North American FJ-1 Fury aircraft system appeared for a limited time with United States Naval air forces but was instrumental in the design of another North American classic warfighter - the F-86 Sabre. The FJ-1 Fury spaw...
Rockwell XFV-12 The XFV-12 aircraft was a proposed Rockwell International design to a United States Navy requirement for a VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft system. Though a promising concept from the beginning, the XFV-12 was te...
Sukhoi Su-33 (Flanker) The Su-33 (NATO designation: "Flanker") represents the naval equivalent to the base Russian-produced Su-27 Flanker series, which in itself was produced to combat the American F-15 during the Cold War years.
Appearing very...
Supermarine Seafire With the successful conversions of Hawker Hurricanes to carrier-operation roles, it was decided to take the successful land-based Supermarine Spitfires and attempt the same modifications. The resulting design was the Supermar...
Vought A-7 Corsair II The middle-weight Vought-produced A-7 Corsair II was designed as a replacement for the A-4 Skyhawk light-weight fighter / bomber, and was based on the engineering successes of the F-8 Crusader. Owing its general visual appear...
Vought F4U Corsair The F4U Corsair series of aircraft was one of the finer fighter developments of the Second World War, primarily seeing combat in the Pacific Theater of War. The uniquely designed bent-wings and ever-improving powerplant assur...
Vought F-8 Crusader The Vought-produced F-8 Crusader was a direct response to a Navy need for a supersonic carrier-based fighter platform. Utilizing nearly the identical powerplant of the F-100 Super Sabre, the F-8 Crusader became the world's fi...
Yakovlev Yak-38 (Forger) The Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger became the first (and last) VTOL service aircraft for the Soviet Union / Russian Federation. Attempting to fulfill the same role as did the British Aerospace Harrier VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Land...
World War One saw the development of a new type of combat - carrier-based aircraft. The Second World War would only developed this form of warfare into the ultimate battleground - a battleground were these huge fleets of aircraft could be stationed anywhere in the world and unleash an aerial barrage in open waters never seen before.
This list is compiled to showcase the various aircraft and their progression in carrier warfare throughout history as represented in the Military Factory. Carrierborne aircraft are represented here based on their sole or primary use as a carrier-based aircraft. Such systems that fall in line with this classification are the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Grumman F6F Hellcat, Harrier and Forger jumpjets and the Vought Corsair series of aircraft. Other systems that share commonality of carrier usage, though used in more specialized roles such as floatplanes and torpedo bombers, will be a part of another listing on this site as the site develops to include them. Fighters AND bombers are included in the listing below.
