Each carrier generates a constant amount of power to allocate to its primary systems. Activating powered systems increases the amount of power drawn from this potential. When the power drawn by systems exceeds the power generated by the carrier, systems operate at reduced efficiency.
Carrier Primary Systems
Repair
The repair system draws power while the carrier is repairing its hull or subsystems. Repairing the carrier's hull requires substantially more power than repairing a subsystem.
While the carrier's power generation is exceeded, the rate of repair is reduced.
Propulsion
The propulsion system draws power while the carrier is maneuvering and has the highest potential draw of any primary system. The maximum potential draw is reached while the carrier throttle is set to full, maximum turning rate is set, or side thrusters are set to maximum.
While the carrier's power generation is exceeded, the speed of the carrier's turning and movement is reduced.
Weapons
The weapons system draws power while the carrier's weapon systems are armed. Each weapon arming switch draws the same amount of power while armed, except the flare launcher and countermeasures which draw less power.
While the carrier's power generation is exceeded, the effects on weapon systems operation are unknown.
Lift/Crane
The lift/crane system moves aircraft between their berths and the flight deck. The lift/crane system only draws power while the lift and/or crane are moving.
While the carrier's power generation is exceeded, the lift and crane move more slowly.
Radar
The radar system draws power while the radar breaker is turned on. When radar is turned off, no power is drawn and no information is shown on the radar display.
While the carrier's power generation is exceeded, the effects on radar operation are unknown.
Power Breakers
There are six breakers that can be flipped to control power to each primary system. The six breakers are arranged as follows:
| Repairs | Weapons | Main |
| Propulsion | Radar | Lift/Crane |
The main breaker powers the entire ship.
Strategy
As a rule of thumb, expect that you can power one system other than propulsion while moving at full speed. Often this will be radar, but launching and recovering aircraft require approximately the same amount of power, so consider turning off radar while moving and conducting flight deck operations. Disarm all weapons while traveling to prevent delays; instead rely on watching the holo table, map screens, and radar display to spot incoming threats. You can repair the carrier's hull while moving at full speed as long as all other systems are turned off.
Each AA missile launcher draws the same amount of power while armed and there is no cooldown between launching missiles, so only arm one at a time and use it until it has no remaining missiles loaded.
Each CIWS draws the same amount of power and arming all four draws more power than your radar, so you can save power by only activating specific CIWS quadrants when a threat is known.
While the carrier is not moving, enough power is available to fully supply most other systems, given unneeded weapons are not armed.