【By Observer Net, Wang Shipu】According to a report by the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) on July 8, according to the U.S. Navy's fiscal year 2026 budget documents, the delivery of the second ship of the Ford-class aircraft carrier, "Kennedy" (CVN-79), has been delayed again by two years, and is now scheduled for March 2027, while according to the 2025 fiscal year budget plan, the "Kennedy" should have been delivered this month, in July.

This means that if the "Nimitz" carrier is retired, the number of active U.S. Navy carriers will be reduced to 10 for about a year. Considering that the "Eisenhower" carrier is also planned to be retired in 2027, the number of U.S. carriers may further decrease in the future.

Regarding the reasons for the delay of the "Kennedy" carrier, a spokesperson from Ingalls Shipbuilding, the company that built the carrier, said that it was because the "Kennedy" carrier was built too quickly, leading to the problems of the "Ford" class carrying over to the "Kennedy."

The latest U.S. Navy 2026 fiscal year shipbuilding budget proposal states: "The delivery date of the 'Kennedy' carrier has been postponed from July 2025 to March 2027 to support the completion of the certification work of the advanced arresting gear and continue the installation of the advanced weapons elevator."

A spokesperson from General Atomics, the company that manufactures the advanced arresting gear, did not immediately respond to the request for comment.

The report states that the "Nimitz" carrier, which has been in service for 50 years in the U.S. Navy, is planned to be retired next May, meaning that in the nearly one year before the "Kennedy" is delivered, the number of active U.S. Navy carriers will drop from 11 to 10.

The "Kennedy" carrier has faced multiple delays during its construction. As early as 2023, the delivery date of the carrier was postponed from June 2024 to 2025. The latest budget proposal also shows that the delivery of the third ship of the Ford-class carrier, the "Enterprise," will also face a one-year delay, with the delivery now scheduled for July 2030.

A navy spokesperson told USNI News in a statement: "The Navy is exploring the opportunity to accept the ship preliminarily before its formal delivery and is closely coordinating with stakeholders to ensure a prompt transition to fleet operations and an operational aircraft carrier."

Regarding the reasons for the delay of the "Kennedy" carrier, a spokesperson from Ingalls Shipbuilding, the company that built the carrier, said that it was because the "Kennedy" carrier was built too quickly, causing the problems of the "Ford" class to carry over to the "Kennedy."

The company spokesperson said in a statement: "Specifically, the construction of the 'Kennedy' (CVN 79) was quite rapid. Although we had already recognized many lessons learned from the 'Ford' carrier at the time, we were unable to implement them in the construction of the 'Kennedy' due to the fast pace of construction."

This spokesperson assured that the "Enterprise" (CVN 80) and the "Doris Miller" (CVN 81) have been able to integrate, utilize, and apply the lessons learned from the Ford class during the early stages of construction. There will not be similar delays."

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