The USS John F Kennedy completed acceptance sea trials ahead of a 2027 service entry.
The US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier has completed acceptance sea trials, a key milestone in the construction process that sets the stage for a 2027 entry into service.
The USS John F Kennedy (CVN-79) departed the shipyard at Newport News, Virginia, on 13 August to begin sea trials.
Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls (HII), which oversees construction of all the US Navy’s nuclear-powered vessels, says the Kennedy completed those acceptance tests and evaluations just a few days later on 15 August.
“This critical set of sea trials is a testament to the entire nuclear shipbuilding enterprise and the work of thousands across our country to prepare CVN-79 to join the fleet,” says Derek Murphy, vice-president of aircraft carrier construction at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division.
The USS John F Kennedy is the second Ford-class aircraft carrier, expected for delivery in 2027Source: Huntington Ingalls Industries
The latest round of sea trials marked the first time the US Navy oversaw the testing and evaluation of the Kennedy‘s various onboard systems and operational functions while underway. HII completed an earlier round of the builder’s sea trials with the new carrier in February.
The shipbuilder says the next step in the construction and delivery process will be preliminary acceptance of the Kennedy by the navy, which will allow the service to test the carrier’s unique combat systems while underway.
For now, the ship is operating without its air wing, which will be incorporated after the Kennedy‘s delivery and flight deck certification.
The carrier is expected to be turned over to the navy in early 2027, although the ship will not be immediately ready for frontline operations.
Roughly five years elapsed between the delivery of the first Ford-class carrier — the USS Gerald R Ford — in 2017 and that ship’s first full operational deployment in 2023.
That timeline was prolonged due to the high number of brand-new systems featured on the Ford-class, such as the electrically driven Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System that replaces the steam-driven catapult used on the the currently serving Nimitz-class carriers.
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