The US Navy will receive a second Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) a year later
The newest US aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford class, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), will be transferred to the US Navy a year later than planned. It is reported by USNI News with reference to the plans of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).
According to the publication, the transfer to the American second aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford class will take place in 2025, and not in 2024, as previously planned. This is due, first of all, to the desire of the military to get a more combat-ready ship, and not to bring it after transfer to the Navy, as is traditionally done in the American navy. Under the primary contract between the Navy and HII, the construction of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy was scheduled for a two-stage delivery. Those. at the first stage, the ship was handed over to the fleet in the "basic" version, and already at the second stage, the ship was retrofitted with additional equipment, including the integration of the carrier-based version of the fifth generation F-35C fighters. However, then it was decided to complete the construction of the aircraft carrier in one stage.
- says the documents of the US Navy.
It is also confirmed that after the handover of the ship to the military, it will be deployed in the Indo-Pacific region to counter the growing power of China.
The aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy is the second in a series of ten ships of the Gerald R. Ford class. The new nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are to replace the Nimitz-class ships in the US Navy, which have been in service since 1975. The official laying ceremony for the aircraft carrier took place on August 22, 2015, although its construction actually began in December 2010, and the first steel cutting ceremony took place on February 25, 2011. The ship was launched on December 7, 2019, at the same time the aircraft carrier was christened.
The new aircraft carriers have a length of 337 meters, a maximum width of 78 meters, and a displacement of about 100 tons. According to the declared characteristics, they can carry an air wing of up to 000 aircraft and helicopters. It is planned to carry F-90, F / A-35E / F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler aircraft, as well as MH-18R / S helicopters.
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