Carrier Battle Group

In addition to prowling the high seas with an awesome air arsenal, each of the U.S. Navy’s $5 billion aircraft carriers is accompanied by an armada of vessels that comprise the carrier battle group. Three destroyers, two cruisers, two nuclear attack submarines, one military tanker, one ammunition supply ship, and more than six dozen aircraft allow nothing to enter the sky above or the sea below them for thousands of square miles around. The individual roles of each aircraft and vessel — as well as how they act together to protect the carrier — are explained and depicted in exclusive action photography.