U.S Navy’s Second Gerald R.Ford Class Aircraft Carrier, The USS John F.Kennedy

U.S Navy’s new Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), is undergoing sea trials, marking its first time in open waters.

Previously, it had undergone dockside testing, but now all its core systems and overall performance are being evaluated before it is delivered in March 2027.

USS John F.Kennedy was built by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII). I is the second aircraft carrier belonging to the Ford Class, the largest class of aircraft carriers in the world.

Its design and systems include lessons learnt from the challenges that had impacted the lead ship of the class, the USS Gerald R.Ford.

Unlike earlier tests, these represent the ship’s first sailing in a real maritime environment.

Construction of the Aircraft Carrier USS John F. Kennedy

Construction of the ship started in February 2011 with the steel-cutting ceremony. Its keel was laid in August 2015, and the construction was half complete by 2017.

At this time, the first ship of the class, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), was also commissioned into the U.S. Navy.

The USS John F.Kennedy was expected to be delivered earlier, but the date has been shifted several times, and the carrier is now expected to be delivered in 2027.

Design and Other Specifications

The USS John F.Kennedy is 1092 feet long with a 256 feet long flight deck. It has a full load displacement of 100,000 tons.

The ship’s design was slightly modified after problems emerging on Gerald R.Ford were taken into consideration.

The lead ship faced issues with incorporating new tech, such as new aircraft arresting gear, weapon elevator system, etc., which led to increasing costs and delays.

John F. Kennedy has a Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based sensor for better situational awareness.

The ship features a redesigned flight deck which supports a 33% higher sortie generation rate.

The aircraft carrier was built using modular superlifts to reduce construction time. It can operate with a smaller crew and will have lower operating costs.

John F Kennedy can also carry more unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and has better electrical power generation for supporting future weapons systems.

Kennedy is different from Ford in some technical aspects as well.

The former has an AN/SPY-6(V)3 Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar, rather than a Dual Band Radar, which is on the Ford that is difficult to maintain and integrate.

The Navy also made changes in the delivery strategy, abandoning a 2-phase plan in 2020 and going for a single-plan approach, which would see the carrier delivered with the capability to operate F-35C stealth fighters.

This decision added many years of extra work, but it was intended to avoid the mistakes spotted on the first aircraft carrier, which faced issues with the integration of several onboard systems.

Strategic Context

The U.S Navy is currently facing increasing pressure regarding its aircraft carrier fleet. The delivery of the new Ford-class carriers coincides with the planned retirement of ageing Nimtz-class vessels.

This has raised concerns about maintaining a minimum legal requirement of 12 operational carriers.

After the USS John F. Kennedy enters service, the next ones scheduled for delivery include
USS Enterprise (CVN-80) and USS Doris Miller (CVN-81) are planned to be commissioned in 2030 and 2032.

The Navy also announced the future USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) and USS George W. Bush (CVN-83).