Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Colin Hall, right, from Great Bend, Kansas, and Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Elizabeth Watkins, from Miami, both assigned to Deck Department aboard Pre-Commissioning Unit John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), stand watch as helmsman and lee helmsman on the bridge during preperation for sea trials. (U.S. Navy photo by Nolan Pennington)
Updated: February 13, 2026 (Originally published February 3, 2026)
The future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) departed Newport News Shipbuilding on January 28th for her first sea trials, marking a major milestone for the second Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear aircraft carrier, Naval News reported.
The builder’s trials represent a critical testing phase for the $13.2 billion warship, which has faced years of delays but is now progressing toward delivery to the Navy. “These trials will test important ship systems and components at sea for the first time,” HII spokesman Todd Corillo told USNI News in a statement.
The massive carrier stretches 1,092 feet long and displaces approximately 100,000 tons, with capacity for a crew of around 4,550 and an embarked airwing of more than 75 aircraft. The JFK will be the first Gerald R. Ford-class hull equipped with RTX’s AN/SPY-6(V)3 radar array, according to Naval News.
Construction of the Kennedy has stretched over more than a decade. The Navy ordered the carrier in 2013 and it was laid down at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division in 2015, The War Zone reported. The ship was launched in October 2019 and christened in December of that year.
Delivery schedules have slipped repeatedly during construction. When launched in 2019, the goal was delivery in 2022, but the current timeline calls for handover to the Navy in March 2027, USNI News reported. However, the Government Accountability Office has suggested the Navy might not receive the carrier until July 2027.
The delays stem from ongoing work on advanced systems that have plagued the Ford class. According to budget documentation cited by Naval News, the delay ensures completion of certification work on Advanced Arresting Gear systems and “continued Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE) work.”
CVN-79 is expected to become the first Ford-class carrier homeported on the West Coast. The vessel follows the lead ship USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), with two additional Ford-class carriers under construction: USS Enterprise (CVN-80) and USS Doris Miller (CVN-81).
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