USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) | laststandonzombieisland

USS JFK inches forward to completion

Posted on February 6, 2026 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

The future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) has returned to HII-Newport News Shipbuilding following successful builder’s sea trials. A team of shipbuilders and the CVN 79 crew spent a week at sea testing important ship systems and components for the first time.

The good news is that she was able to complete the trials without having to be towed back halfway through, and no apparent fires were observed.

Still, she looks beautiful.

The second Gerald R. Ford-class super carrier has cost some $11.4 billion thus far and, ordered in January 2009, is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in March 2027, a gestation period of “just” 18 years, somehow twice as long as the class leader, Ford.

The plan is for the third Ford, the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80), to be delivered in 2030, only 14 years after HII was given the first award for her advanced planning.

We gotta do better, guys.

The Orange Crush Rides again

Posted on February 23, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

HII announced this week that its Newport News Shipbuilding division recently began topside testing of the electromagnetic aircraft launch system catapult on the future Ford-class supercarrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), something which was supposed to have started last year. JFK was awarded in 2009 (!) laid down in 2015, christened in 2019, and is scheduled to be delivered in 2025.

Anyway, it is always fun to see test sleds weighing up to 80,000 pounds go from zero to 150 knots in 300 feet and careen Wile E. Coyote-style into the James River.