On Wednesday, 28 January 2026, the American shipbuilding company Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced on social media that the future aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, of the Gerald R. Ford class, departed Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, and began its first sea trials.
Photos: HII via X
As part of these builder’s trials, key shipboard systems and components will be tested at sea for the first time. This is an element of the vessel’s open-ocean evaluation conducted under a contract with the United States Navy. The trials were preceded by initial tests of the ship’s nuclear propulsion system, carried out on the James River in the second half of September 2025.
By way of reminder, the ship’s keel was laid on 20 July 2015, and the hull was launched on 29 October 2019. Since then, the vessel has been undergoing outfitting.
Nevertheless, the delivery of the new aircraft carrier, the second Gerald R. Ford class unit built under the CVN-21 Future Carrier Program, has been delayed compared with the original plans, which envisioned entry into service in 2022, and later in July 2025. Given that the first Nimitz class carrier, USS Nimitz (CVN-68), is scheduled to be decommissioned in May this year after 51 years of service, a significant operational gap will emerge within the United States Navy in terms of the number of carrier strike groups.
Current projections now assume that USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) will enter service no earlier than March 2027.
By way of reminder, the lead ship USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) entered service back in 2017, but a number of early “teething problems” were subsequently identified. It is also worth noting that in 2019, the U.S. Congress imposed a requirement on the Department of Defense that acceptance of the second ship would take place only after the integration of next-generation carrier aircraft, namely the Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II.
In 2020, the United States Navy revised its previously planned two-phase delivery approach, opting instead for a single-phase delivery of the aircraft carrier. According to Navy budget documents under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024, this decision extended the detailed design and construction contract by two additional years, also due to the integration of fifth-generation aircraft and the next-generation AN/SPY-6(V)3 EASR (Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar).
As for subsequent aircraft carriers of this class, the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80) is currently under construction – the keel was laid on 27 August 2022, with entry into service planned for 2030. The next vessel will be USS Doris Miller (CVN-81), whose keel was scheduled to be laid this month so that launching could take place in October 2029, followed by commissioning in 2032.
Further plans include USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82), with keel laying scheduled for 2027, launching in 2032, and delivery in 2036, as well as USS George W. Bush (CVN-83), for which no preliminary construction schedule has yet been established. In addition, four more unnamed aircraft carriers are planned – bringing the total to 10 ships, which will ultimately replace all vessels of the Nimitz class.
This huge milestone is the result of the selfless teamwork and unwavering commitment by our incredible shipbuilders, suppliers and ship’s force crew. We wish them a safe and successful time at sea! @USNavy @COMNAV_AIRLANT @USNavyNNPP (2/2) pic.twitter.com/EEwJdltygV
— HII (@WeAreHII) January 28, 2026