Aircraft and carriers

An aircraft is a part you place on deck. It needs a runway, catapult or flight deck at least as long as its own minimum, on the same deck level, or the ship will not launch. A ship carries up to 64 aircraft. Aircraft lists what each airframe needs.

You do not fly them. Aircraft take off, find targets, attack, come back and land on their own. The one control you have is the launch lock on the weapon bar, which holds departures while still letting aircraft land.

• Fighters hunt enemy aircraft and strafe ships. A burst can miss.
• Bombers dive on a ship and bomb it. A bomb that lands in the sea still damages underwater parts inside its blast.
• Torpedo bombers fly low and drop a torpedo, which needs 100 m of run to arm before it reaches the target.
• Scouts carry no weapon.

Bombers and torpedo bombers attack a submerged submarine only while their own carrier has working sonar. Fighters cannot attack under water.

Each aircraft flies for a limited time and carries limited ammunition, then has to go back. Your anti-aircraft guns shoot at aircraft on their own, hitting hardest up close (see Firing weapons).