A carrier strike group (CSG) is a US Navy formation built around a single nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, its embarked air wing, and a screen of escorting cruisers, destroyers, and attack submarines. The carrier projects air power while the escorts provide air defense, anti-submarine warfare, and missile strike, allowing the group to operate independently almost anywhere in the world's oceans.

The US Navy operates 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, a number set in US law and the largest carrier fleet in the world. These Nimitz- and Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers each embark an air wing of roughly 60 to 75 aircraft. No other navy fields a comparable number of large-deck carriers.

Modern US carrier air wings are built around the F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter, the EA-18G Growler electronic-attack jet, and the E-2 Hawkeye airborne early-warning aircraft, increasingly joined by the stealthy F-35C Lightning II, plus MH-60 Seahawk helicopters for rescue and anti-submarine work.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet replaced the F-14 Tomcat as the US Navy's primary carrier-based fighter. The Tomcat, famous from its Cold War fleet-defense role, was retired from US service in 2006, leaving the multirole Super Hornet family to handle both air-superiority and strike missions from the carrier deck.

Critics argue that the spread of long-range precision, anti-ship ballistic, and hypersonic missiles increasingly threatens large, expensive carriers operating near contested coastlines. This has fueled debate over whether the Navy should keep concentrating firepower in a few carriers or distribute it across more numerous smaller ships, submarines, and unmanned systems.

Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) is a US Navy concept for spreading combat power across a larger number of dispersed, networked ships and aircraft rather than concentrating it in a few platforms. The goal is to complicate an adversary's targeting, improve survivability, and still mass long-range fires when needed through shared sensors and data links.

Unmanned aircraft are becoming part of the carrier air wing, starting with the MQ-25 Stingray, a deck-launched drone designed to refuel crewed fighters in flight and extend their range. The Navy and industry are also testing other carrier-capable drones for surveillance and strike roles.

The US Navy's core mission is to maintain freedom of the seas, deter aggression, and project power ashore. It does this through carrier aviation, ballistic-missile and attack submarines, surface combatants, and maritime patrol forces, sustaining a forward presence across the world's oceans to protect trade routes and respond to crises.