At first look, it may seem that an aircraft carrier is unorganized, but don’t be fooled, as planes can be launched at a rapid rate per minute.
To the untrained eye, a busy carrier flight deck looks like an uncoordinated shambles. In reality, it’s a finely tuned piece of choreography that’s designed to optimize how quickly carriers can launch (and retrieve) aircraft. But just how many planes a can carrier launch in a minute, depends on factors including the type of carrier, the crew, launch procedures, and the environmental factors at the time. For instance, a Nimitz-class carrier like the USS Harry S. Truman can launch two planes every 37 seconds in daylight, or just over three a minute; the rate drops to one per minute at night. Astonishingly, it can do this while retrieving planes at the same time.
While these are impressive numbers, the world’s most advanced aircraft carrier — the USS Gerald R. Ford — is expected to surpass this. While getting precise launch numbers for the ship is difficult, it’s designed to launch 25% more sorties than the Nimitz-class carriers.
