Navy’s next carrier, USS John F. Kennedy, leaves shipyard for sea trials

The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy departed HII Newport News Shipbuilding’s yard on Wednesday for sea trials, the ship’s builder reported.

“These trials will test and evaluate important ship systems and components,” the shipyard said in an online statement. “We wish them a safe and successful time at sea.”

The Navy’s acceptance trials are the last major evaluation for Kennedy, the much-delayed second ship of the USS Gerald R. Ford-class of aircraft carriers. Neither the Navy nor the shipbuilder said how long the trials would last. The builder’s initial sea trials were completed in February.

Kennedy is scheduled to be commissioned in March 2027.

The Congressional Research Service estimated last year that the final procurement cost of Kennedy will be just under $13.2 billion.

Delays due to design changes and issues with the ship’s electromagnetic weapons elevators and arresting gear landing system pushed back the timeline for delivering Kennedy to the Navy by 20 months, from July 2025 to March 2027.

Kennedy was also retrofitted with Raytheon’s Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar, which the Navy says will enable improved air defense coordination and faster tracking of incoming threats.

Congress required the Kennedy be able to operate the F-35C Lightning II, the carrier-based variant of the fifth-generation strike fighter also flown in other variants by the Air Force and Marine Corps.

Kennedy is expected to be homeported initially at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., but will shift to Naval Base Kitsap, Wash., in 2029.

After Kennedy is commissioned, work will focus on the next two Ford-class carriers — USS Enterprise and USS Doris Miller. Enterprise is scheduled to be commissioned in July 2030; Doris Miller is expected in February 2032.

The Navy announced plans in January 2025 to request two more carriers, to be named USS William J. Clinton and USS George W. Bush. The ships still require congressional approval and contracts with the shipyard.

Navy plans call for retiring older Nimitz-class carriers as the new Ford-class carriers are procured.

USS Nimitz, commissioned in 1975, was originally slated to retire in 2025, when the Navy received Kennedy. Delays to the Kennedy have pushed the Nimitz retirement to March 2027.

The second-oldest Nimitz-class carrier, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (commissioned in 1977), was originally scheduled to retire in 2026. The Navy has pushed the date back to no earlier than 2030, when Enterprise would enter service.

The Navy’s long-range plan is to buy and build 10 Ford-class carriers to replace all 10 Nimitz-class carriers.

Kennedy will be the second carrier named after the late president who served in World War II as a Navy PT Boat commander in the Pacific. The prior USS John F. Kennedy was a modified version of the Kitty Hawk-class carriers.

Commissioned on Sept. 7, 1968, the prior John F. Kennedy was the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier built for the U.S. Navy. The ship retired in 2007.