The United States no longer uses gas-powered aircraft carriers, as all of its carriers run on nuclear power. The only other country to have nuclear-powered carriers is France. However, other countries like the United Kingdom, Russia, and China still use gas turbines in their carriers.
England’s HMS Queen Elizabeth has a range of 10K nautical miles, so it needs to refuel whenever it nears that distance. Unlike pulling a car into a gas station, the English Navy doesn’t need to pull into port every time it needs to refuel. Instead, they perform a maneuver called replenishment at sea, where a tanker sails 138 feet beside the carrier and passes fuel lines across for refueling.
Russia, on the other hand, technically has zero aircraft carriers in its entire naval fleet, as its only “aircraft cruiser” has been undergoing repairs since 2017. That carrier runs on a substance called Mazut, a tar-like low-quality fuel oil. Running on Mazut requires it to refuel every 3,850 nautical miles. China’s new flagship carrier, the Fujian, is one of three carriers in its fleet and the newest. The country has kept specific details about the Fujian fairly close to its chest as there are no details about its maximum range. However, according to reporting, Fujian can’t travel far for long periods since the country’s fleet is limited and lacks a larger replenishment fleet to support long deployments.
