Doesn't the Brazilian navy also operates the world smallest aircraft carrier?
No...Lets See
By configuration
There are three main
configurations of aircraft carrier
in service in the world's navies:
> Catapult Assisted Take-Off But
Arrested Recovery ( CATOBAR)
> Short Take-Off But Arrested
Recovery ( STOBAR)
> Short Take-Off Vertical
Landing ( STOVL)
By size
> Supercarrier
Fleet carrier, the standard
sized carrier of a navy.
> Light aircraft carrier
> Escort carrier
STOVL ACs will be smaller.
Brazilian Sao Paulo AC
Its a 32.8 ton (length 244m) AC not a smaller one.
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Brazil (1)
NAe São Paulo (A12): 32,800
ton ex-French carrier FS Foch
(launched 1960), purchased in
2000.
France (1)
Charles de Gaulle (R 91):
42,000 ton nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier, commissioned
in 2001.
India (1)
INS Viraat: 28,700 ton ex-
British carrier HMS Hermes
(launched 1953), purchased in
1986 and commissioned in
1987, scheduled to be
decommissioned in 2019.
Italy (2)
Giuseppe Garibaldi (551):
14,000 ton Italian STOVL
carrier, commissioned in 1985.
Cavour (550): 27,000 ton
Italian STOVL carrier,
commissioned in 2008.
Russia (1)
Admiral Flota Sovetskovo
Soyuza Kuznetsov
: 67,500 ton Kuznetsov class
STOBAR aircraft carrier.
Launched in 1985 as Tbilisi,
renamed and operational
from 1995.
Spain (2)
Principe de Asturias (R11):
17,200 ton STOVL carrier,
commissioned in 1988.
Juan Carlos I (L61): 27,000 ton
STOVL carrier, commissioned
in 2010.
Thailand (1)
HTMS Chakri Naruebet: 11,400
ton carrier based on Spanish
Principe De Asturias design.
Commissioned in 1997, though
remains predominantly inactive
due to lack of funds.Smallest aircraft
carrier in service currently.
United Kingdom (2)
Invincible class: Three STOVL
carriers were originally
commissioned, of which two
are in active service.
United States (11)
USS Enterprise (CVN-65):
93,500 ton nuclear-powered
supercarrier commissioned in
1961. First nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier. Scheduled for
decommissioning in 2013,
may be extended to
2014-2015.
Nimitz class: ten 101,000 ton
nuclear-powered
supercarriers, the first of which
was commissioned in 1975. A
Nimitz class carrier is powered
by two nuclear reactors and
four steam turbines and is
1,092 feet (333 m) long. The
United States Navy has the
world's largest carrier fleet
with eleven supercarriers in
service and one under
construction