The USS John F. Kennedy heads into the Atlantic Ocean for sea trials that are a key test prior to its scheduled 2027 commissioning into the US Navy. (Huntington Ingalls Industries)

The USS John F. Kennedy sailed into the Atlantic late this week for sea trials, the ship’s builder said Thursday.

The second Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier under construction departed Newport News Shipbuilding, in Virginia, on Wednesday, according to Huntington Ingalls Industries, the parent company of the shipyard.

The sea trials will give the Navy and HII workers a chance to operate crucial systems and components at sea for the first time — a key test of the new ship’s readiness for its scheduled commissioning in March 2027.

The new carrier, to be designated CVN-79, is the second named for the 35th president, a World War II Navy hero who was assassinated in November 1963.

The first USS John F. Kennedy was a modified Kitty Hawk-class carrier laid down in 1964. It retired in 2007 as the Navy’s last conventionally-powered carrier.

The USS John F. Kennedy leaves Newport News, Va., for sea trials on Jan. 28, 2026. (Huntington Ingalls Industries)

The new USS John F. Kennedy is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a displacement of around 100,000 tons. The ship is about two years behind its original construction schedule, with delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and problems with electromagnetic systems needed to move and launch aircraft.

The John F. Kennedy is expected to operate with F-35C Lightning II aircraft. It is planned as a replacement for the USS Nimitz, the Navy’s oldest carrier, which was commissioned in 1975. A total of 10 Nimitz carriers were built, with the final carrier, USS George H.W. Bush, commissioned in 2009. That same year, the USS Gerald R. Ford began a new class of carriers when it was laid down at Newport News.

USS John F. Kennedy’s commissioning would be followed by its sailing to its previously announced homeport of Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Wash., just west of Seattle. The base is undergoing a nearly $150 million electrical and infrastructure upgrade to accommodate the new carrier, which is expected to have in-port electrical needs far greater than those of the Nimitz-class carriers it was designed to handle.

The USS Nimitz is scheduled to depart NB Kitsap early this year and arrive at Naval Station Norfolk by April to begin a lengthy decommissioning process that would see the ship retired after it is stripped of usable weapons and other components.

After the departure of the USS Nimitz, NB Kitsap would be homeport to one Nimitz-class carrier, USS Ronald Reagan, which began a 17-month intermediate life overhaul in March 2025. The Navy has not announced if the Reagan will remain homeported in Bremerton after the John F. Kennedy arrives.

Newport News Shipbuilding also is building the next Ford-class carrier, USS Enterprise. It is slated for commissioning in 2030 as part of the Navy’s plan to replace the second-oldest Nimitz-class carrier, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. The “Ike” was scheduled for decommissioning in 2026, but its retirement has been pushed into the early 2030s due to delays in Gerald Ford-class carrier construction.

The Navy has not announced when the John F. Kennedy will return to Newport News following the sea trials.

The official crest of the new USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier, CVN-79.  (Graphic by Richard Pittman/U.S. Navy)