The future USS John F. Kennedy, the US Navy's second Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN), has completed undergoing her builder's sea trials.
Throughout the trials, US Navy sailors from the pre-commissioning unit assigned to Kennedy, shipbuilders from Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding division, and personnel from the navy's Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Naval Sea Systems Command, and the navy's program executive office for CVNs worked together in testing many of the ship's key systems and technologies.
Prior to getting underway, the carrier conducted a five-day "fast cruise,” a multi-day pier side training evolution that will bring the ship to life prior to getting underway during new construction or after an extended maintenance availability.
The navy said this simulated underway period exercises the ship’s ability to operate at sea and affords the crew the opportunity to transition to an operational mindset before getting underway.
The carrier honours the late John F. Kennedy, who was President of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Prior to entering politics, the late president had served as a US Navy officer and was the captain of the famed patrol torpedo boat PT-109 when it saw combat in the Pacific in World War II.
The ship is also the second aircraft carrier to be named after the late President Kennedy. She is tentatively scheduled for delivery to the navy in March 2027, while fitting out is expected to be completed by July of that year.