USS John F. Kennedy Begins Acceptance Trials, Second Ford-Class Carrier Due in 2027

The future USS John F. Kennedy departed Newport News Shipbuilding on 12 August 2026 for acceptance sea trials, the last major at-sea evaluation before the US Navy takes delivery of its second Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier. Delivery is projected for March 2027.

Acceptance trials put the ship's propulsion, navigation, combat systems, aviation equipment and habitability through testing under way, with the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey judging whether the carrier meets specification. Kennedy completed builder's trials in February 2026. According to USNI News, seven of the ship's eleven advanced weapons elevators had been turned over to the crew before the trials began — the system that, together with the Advanced Arresting Gear, pushed delivery from its original 2025 target.

The 100,000-tonne, 1,092-foot ship has been a long time coming. Construction started in February 2011, the keel was laid in August 2015 and the carrier was christened and launched in October 2019. Newport News Shipbuilding said the milestone reflected "the dedication and commitment of our incredible shipbuilders, suppliers, ship's force crew and US Navy teammates." Unlike Gerald R. Ford, which needed modifications after delivery, Kennedy is to be handed over already able to operate the F-35C Lightning II alongside the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and E-2D Hawkeye that make up the rest of a carrier air wing.

The handover will not enlarge the fleet. GlobalMilitary.net's inventory of the US Navy records eleven active aircraft carriers in United States service — ten Nimitz-class ships and Gerald R. Ford — which is more than the rest of the world's navies hold between them in the global aircraft carrier ranking. Kennedy is logged as fitting out, and the ship it is meant to relieve, USS Nimitz, commissioned in 1975, has had its own retirement pushed from 2026 into 2027. The two events now fall in the same year, leaving the force flat at eleven rather than briefly at twelve.

Three more Ford-class hulls follow behind Kennedy: USS Enterprise (CVN-80) and USS Doris Miller (CVN-81) are under contract, with USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) and USS George W. Bush (CVN-83) planned. On current schedules the class will not have replaced the Nimitz-class outright until the 2050s.

Delivery in March 2027 would not put Kennedy to sea on operations. Ford-class carriers go through post-delivery test and trials, a shakedown period and air wing integration first; Kennedy is not expected to reach its planned home port at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton before 2029.