By some measures, the United States Navy boasts the world’s second-largest and second-most powerful air force after the United States Air Force (especially if the Marine Corps’ aviation is included). The US Navy operates both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft from its ships. While fixed-wing aircraft can operate from the aircraft carriers, the Navy needs helicopters to operate off destroyers, cruisers, and other warships (all large surface ships operate warplanes of some sort – even if it is a single helicopter).