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United States Huntington Ingalls Industries
Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier
The backbone of U.S. carrier strike groups for five decades, ten nuclear-powered supercarriers that project air power globally. Being progressively replaced by the Gerald R. Ford class as they retire.
In service since 1975 · 1 operator countries
Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗ ·last verified 2026-07-02
100,000
t
30
kn
5,000
crew
💲 ≈ $8,500,000,000 — Approximate late-class unit cost
Procurement snapshot
Availability & export
US ITAR-controlled
Export needs U.S. State Dept (DDTC) approval; end-use & re-transfer restrictions apply.
Channel: Foreign Military Sales (FMS) or Direct Commercial Sale
Fielded & proven
Limited · 1 operator
In service since 1975. Status: active · ~10 built.
Lifecycle cost (est.)
$21B – $30B
Acquisition is only ~30% of lifecycle cost — operating & support dominate over ~35 yrs. Rough 2.5–3.5× the unit price.
Interoperability
No standardised NATO calibre / datalink detected in public specs.
Derived guidance from public data — export regime by country of origin, lifecycle from the GAO ~30% acquisition rule. Verify eligibility, pricing and offsets with the manufacturer and your acquisition authority.
Full specifications
Firepower
Armament, payload and guidance.
- Main armament
Primary weapon: main gun, cannon or missile type.
- RIM-162 ESSM, RIM-116 RAM point-defense missiles
Physical
Dimensions, weight and crew.
- Length
Overall length including gun/probe where applicable.
- 332.8 m
Sensors & avionics
Radar, sensor suite and datalinks.
- Radar
Primary radar. AESA (active electronically scanned array) is the current state of the art.
- AN/SPS-48E 3D air search radar
Program
Cost, production scale and operators.
- Unit cost
Approximate flyaway/unit cost where public. Defense pricing varies hugely by contract, offsets and configuration. Lower is cheaper.
- $8,500,000,000 Bottom 7% of warships
- Units built
Total production run. Higher means proven manufacturing, mature logistics and spares availability.
- 10 Top 10% of warships
- Operator countries
Number of countries operating the system. More operators means broader support ecosystem.
- 1 Stronger than 45% of warships
Specifications compiled from public Huntington Ingalls Industries and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations — treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-07-02.
Compare with rivals
See how it stacks up
Navantia Alvaro de Bazan class (F100) 
Fincantieri Bergamini class (FREMM) Frequently asked questions
What is the main armament of the Huntington Ingalls Industries Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier? +
The Huntington Ingalls Industries Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier's primary weapon is the RIM-162 ESSM, RIM-116 RAM point-defense missiles.
How many countries operate the Huntington Ingalls Industries Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier? +
The Huntington Ingalls Industries Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier is operated by 1 countries.
How much does the Huntington Ingalls Industries Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier cost? +
The Huntington Ingalls Industries Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier has an approximate unit cost of 8,500,000,000 USD. Defense pricing varies by contract, offsets and configuration — treat this as directional.
