As we all know, aircraft carriers are not only a symbol of a country's military strength, but also an important tool for safeguarding national interests. Nowadays, the world's major maritime countries are competing to develop aircraft carrier technology. The Chinese Navy, with its three aircraft carriers, has firmly occupied the top three navies in the world. In this aircraft carrier race, United States still maintains a leading position, and the imminent commissioning of its new generation of Ford-class nuclear aircraft carrier "Kennedy" has attracted global attention.
We know that the United States currently has 11 nuclear aircraft carriers, accounting for more than half of the world's aircraft carriers. It mainly consists of 10 Nimitz-class ships and 1 USS Ford. But the United States was not satisfied with this, in order to consolidate maritime supremacy, not long after the United States built the Ford-class No. 1 ship "USS Ford", and started the construction of the second ship "USS Kennedy" with the port number: CVN-79.
It was officially launched at the end of October 2019 at a cost of about $14 billion. Electromagnetic ejection tests were conducted in February 2024.
The USS Kennedy, as the second ship of the Ford-class, inherited the advanced technology of the USS Ford, and made many improvements on its basis, avoiding many previous failures, such as electromagnetic ejection problems, weapon elevator problems, communication network problems, and so on. With a full load displacement of about 112,000 tons, it can be called a giant at sea.
More remarkably, it may carry 75 F-35C fighter jets, a fifth-generation fighter with stealth performance and powerful combat capabilities. Through the advanced electromagnetic catapult device, the "Kennedy" can achieve the astonishing speed of one fighter plane taking off every 45 seconds, greatly improving the combat efficiency of the aircraft carrier, and occupying a great advantage in future naval and air battles.
In addition to a powerful carrier-based aircraft formation, the USS Kennedy may also be equipped with advanced equipment such as laser weapons. These weapons systems are capable of long-range strikes and pose a significant threat to enemy carriers, satellites, and missiles. As a result, the "Kennedy" not only has a strong defensive capability, but also has an offensive strategic deterrent.
If this news comes true, then the "Kennedy" will become a true maritime hegemon, intimidating to any potential adversary. Even Russian experts have praised it: If these coefficients become a reality, then the aircraft carrier's technology will be at least 20 years ahead of the world.
However, the development of the Kennedy was not all smooth sailing. Due to the large number of new technologies and complex systems, the aircraft carrier encountered many challenges during construction and testing. The United States Navy had to devote a lot of time and resources to solving these problems to ensure that the USS Kennedy could be successfully commissioned and combat effective.
At the beginning, the United States announced that it was expected to enter service in 2022, but as a result, there were too many problems in the sea trial process, and it was postponed again and again. However, some analysts believe that by the end of this year or early next year, the Kennedy is likely to meet delivery standards.
It can be seen that the appearance of the USS Kennedy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will undoubtedly further enhance United States' maritime strength. Its huge size, advanced fighters and powerful weapon systems all make it a major killer weapon in future naval warfare. For other countries, how to deal with such a powerful aircraft carrier will be a huge challenge.