WASHINGTON— The U.S. Navy has again postponed the delivery timelines for two of its next-generation Ford-class aircraft carriers.
The John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), originally scheduled for July 2025, will now be delivered in March 2027. The USS Enterprise (CVN-80), slated for delivery in September 2029, is now delayed to July 2030, Navy budget records show.
Photo: PICRYLUS Aircraft Carriers Face Delay
The latest budget documents from the U.S. Navy’s Fiscal Year 2026 justification filings confirm additional setbacks in the Ford-class program.
The John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), under construction by Huntington Ingalls Industries at Newport News Shipbuilding (PHF), was initially planned for handover in 2024, then pushed to mid-2025, and now postponed further to March 2027.
This two-year delay is attributed to incomplete work on the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) system and ongoing issues with the Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE)—both of which have presented persistent integration challenges.
These systems are already operational aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), which recently departed Norfolk, Virginia (ORF) for a European deployment amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, Defense News reported.
Enterprise Carrier Also Faces Further Postponement
The USS Enterprise (CVN-80), the third Ford-class vessel, is now projected for completion in July 2030, according to the same budget documents.
Its delivery has now been delayed twice, having slipped from its original 2028 target to 2029, and now by nearly a full year again.
Navy officials cite industry-wide supply chain disruptions and material availability as the primary drivers of the delay. These systemic issues continue to hinder the timely completion of high-tech defense assets across the U.S. shipbuilding industry.
Photo:NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Archive
Navy Struggles with Fleet Modernization Goals
The Ford-class carriers are designed to replace the aging Nimitz-class ships, offering enhanced energy efficiency, greater sortie generation rates, and a reduced crew size. However, recurring schedule disruptions are undermining long-term strategic plans.
According to Adm. James Kilby, acting Chief of Naval Operations, “We are behind in every ship class [by] different rates, but for years.” These candid remarks were made during a recent Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Defense.
To address these systemic challenges, the Pentagon has initiated several measures:
- Increasing capital investment in U.S. shipyards
- Expanding contract awards to stabilize the shipbuilding workforce
- Accelerating the integration of unmanned surface and underwater vehicles
- Revamping outdated shipyard infrastructure to support next-gen vessel production
Long-Term Impact on Naval Readiness
Repeated delays in the Ford-class program could constrain the Navy’s ability to maintain a fully modernized carrier strike force by the 2030s.
The reliability and availability of these ships are central to U.S. maritime dominance, particularly in the Indo-Pacific and Middle Eastern theaters where geopolitical competition is intensifying.
As the Navy navigates engineering setbacks and industrial bottlenecks, the pressure mounts to streamline production timelines and stabilize the delivery pipeline for future capital ships.
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