The USS John F. Kennedy completed its first week of sea trials on Feb. 4, 2026, returning to Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. The carrier will complete more sea trials before its scheduled delivery to the Navy in early 2027. (Newport News Shipbuilding)
The John F. Kennedy returned to its Virginia shipyard on Wednesday, completing a weeklong sea trial as it moves toward a scheduled delivery to the Navy early next year.
The John F. Kennedy is the second of 10 planned nuclear-powered Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers to be built by Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries. The Navy’s most recent procurement cost estimate is $13.196 billion.
The carrier, designated CVN-79, is scheduled to be delivered and officially commissioned into the Navy in March 2027.
“Our nation is depending on us to deliver these critical assets that will protect freedom around the world, and we’re proud to see CVN-79 take another step toward joining the fleet,” said Derek Murphy, vice president of new construction aircraft carrier programs.
The carrier left Newport News on Jan. 30 for “testing important ship systems and components at sea,” the shipbuilder said.
Newport News Shipbuilding said technological advancements on the carrier design would increase operational efficiency and reduce manning requirements; the ship would need about 900 fewer sailors than the Nimitz-class, according to Navy estimates. The Gerald R. Ford class also features an upgraded pair of nuclear reactors, increasing its electrical power-generation capacity.
The Ford-class carriers use an electromagnetic system on their aircraft elevators and aircraft launching systems. Adjustments to the new system have been one factor in what the Congressional Research Service says is a two-year delay in the delivery of the John F. Kennedy. Other delays were due to certification of the arresting gear.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order telling the Navy to use traditional steam-powered catapults to launch aircraft from future carriers. However, no aircraft carrier is scheduled to be built and delivered until after Trump leaves office in January 2029.
The Navy has started a $145 million electrical systems overhaul at Naval Base Kitsap, where the Navy has said the John F. Kennedy will eventually be homeported. Similar upgrades will be required at bases where future Gerald R. Ford-class carriers are homeported.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is homeported at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. The commissioning of the John F. Kennedy and its assignment to NB Kitsap in 2029, west of Seattle on the Puget Sound, will give the Navy one of its newest class of carriers on the East and West Coasts.
The Nimitz and Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers are the largest warships in the world, with a displacement of about 100,000 tons, according to the Navy.
The Navy plans to build 10 of the new carriers to replace the 10 Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carriers commissioned between 1975 and 2009. The last aircraft carrier built for the Navy that used steam turbines was the previous carrier named after the 35th president, USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), which was retired in 2007.
