The future USS John F. Kennedy has completed acceptance sea trials, clearing another major test milestone before the US Navy begins further evaluation of the second Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to HII.
HII announced on 15 August that CVN 79 had returned to Newport News Shipbuilding following testing and evaluation of ship systems and components at sea.
The carrier had previously completed builder’s sea trials earlier in 2026. Acceptance trials represent a separate stage of testing involving the shipbuilder, Navy personnel and the ship’s crew before the vessel progresses towards acceptance by the service.
Derek Murphy, Newport News Shipbuilding vice president of new construction aircraft carrier programmes, said: “It is an honor to take Kennedy to sea to demonstrate the quality work and commitment by our shipbuilders.” He added: “This critical set of sea trials is a testament to the entire nuclear shipbuilding enterprise and the work of thousands across our country to prepare CVN 79 to join the fleet.”
HII said Newport News shipbuilders, sailors assigned to John F. Kennedy and US Navy personnel worked together during the trials to test and evaluate the operation of the ship. With acceptance trials complete, the next stage will be preliminary acceptance of the carrier. According to HII, that will allow the Navy to begin underway testing and evaluation of systems specific to John F. Kennedy.
CVN 79 is the second ship of the Gerald R. Ford class and follows USS Gerald R. Ford, CVN 78. The class introduces a number of changes from the preceding Nimitz-class carriers, including electromagnetic aircraft launch equipment and Advanced Arresting Gear for recovering aircraft. The ships also use a redesigned island and new electrical-generation arrangements intended to support their aviation and ship systems. John F. Kennedy is being constructed by HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division in Virginia, the only US shipyard currently building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
The carrier was christened in December 2019 and has subsequently progressed through fitting-out, systems activation and testing ahead of delivery to the U.S. Navy. Acceptance trials are conducted to demonstrate the material condition and operation of a vessel before acceptance by the service. The testing can involve propulsion, steering, electrical, communications and other shipboard systems, depending on the programme and stage of construction.
The completion of acceptance trials follows builder’s trials earlier this year and leaves preliminary acceptance as the next identified step in the carrier’s programme. Once that stage is completed, the Navy will begin underway test and evaluation of John F. Kennedy‘s unique systems before the ship proceeds through the remaining work required ahead of fleet service.
Good looking design
Of course it could, if the runes are correct end up being called the USS Trump Kennedy I guess. Although I doubt he will want one with Emals so might prefer to wait until he can get one with that installed and no doubt to compliment it a reversion to Tigercats as he likes two engines, can be introduced.
(uninstalled)
Off your medication again, I see.
About that…
“According to a frequently told story, Admiral Rickover was asked why the Navy had changed its practice of naming submarines after fish, and he reportedly replied “fish don’t vote,” indicating that politics had something to do with the change. When I was serving in the Submarine Warfare Division(OP-31) way back in 1969-1970 before OP-02, etc., etc., I had occasion to gain some insight about Admiral Rickover’s political acumen in a rather interesting fashion.” (…)
“The letter in question was from a retired submariner Vice Admiral to Admiral “Chic” Clarey, then VCNO. Clarey and the writer were contemporaries, had served as submarine COs in the Pacific, and collected numerous awards for their respective war patrols. The personal letter reminded Admiral Clarey of this and noted that only one thing was lacking to make his life full and complete. That was to have his wife named as a sponsor for a new submarine. Of course by this time that meant a nuclear submarine, either an SSN or SSBN.”
“It sounded like a natural fit to me in my naivete, but the cover sheet from Admiral Clarey’s office indicated that the answer was “No”, to be expressed in a pleasantly regretful tone.”
“The issue bothered me because as I said earlier the lady in question seemed a most appropriate choice. Her husband had made many successful war patrols as a CO, he had gone on to flag rank, had served as a Vice Admiral and what more could you want?”
“My next step was to consult the Electric Boat Company Data Sheet. It listed every submarine ever built for the United States Navy, their sequential number beginning with USS Holland as number I, their length, breadth, etc., their commissioning commanding officer and their sponsor. I drew a line on top of USS Nautilus (SSN-571) and started scanning all the sponsor’s names for SSNs and SSBNs”
“I seemed to see some familiar sounding names. I got out my Congressional Directory and cross-checked the sponsor’s names against a listing of senators and representatives. There appeared to be a high correlation. I went even further and checked Committee assignments for those members whose mothers, wives or daughters had somehow wound up as sponsors of nuclear submarines. Here again the correlation was very high. Members of authorization committees, appropriation committees and the nuclear energy committee seemed to have done particularly well. It has been a long time now and I don’t remember the exact number but it seems to me that the correlation between sponsor and member of Congress-relative was at least 90 percent. It became clear to me that while Admiral Rickover knew that fish didn’t vote he was well aware that Senators and Representatives did.”
From archive.navalsubleague.org . Title: Fish don’t vote.
Gee, politicians acting like politicians. How shocking!
Is this the one they are converting back to steam – so more work to be done.
What’s the betting that a large proportion of this class get cancelled. T is building up to saying the the US can’t afford a military (unless someone else pays for it).
There is a whole article on that topic on TWZ it ain’t going to happen,it requires a complete redesign of the ship itself not just the catapults.