USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79)
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Artist impression of the John F. Kennedy.
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| History | |
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| Name: | John F. Kennedy |
| Namesake: | John F. Kennedy |
| Builder: | Huntington Ingalls Industries |
| Laid down: | 22 August 2015 |
| Launched: | 2018, planned |
| Sponsored by: | Caroline Kennedy |
| Commissioned: | 2020, planned |
| Identification: | CVN-79 |
| Status: | Under construction |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier |
| Type: | Nuclear Aircraft Carrier |
| Displacement: | About 100,000 long tons (110,000 short tons; 100,000 tonnes) (full load) |
| Length: | 1,106 ft (337 m) |
| Beam: | 134 ft (41 m) |
| Draft: | 39 feet (12 m) |
| Installed power: | Two A1B nuclear reactors |
| Propulsion: | Four shafts |
| Speed: | In excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Range: | Unlimited distance; 20–25 years |
| Complement: | 4,660 |
| Armament: | |
| Aircraft carried: | More than 80, can hold up to 90 combat aircraft |
| Aviation facilities: | 1,092 ft × 256 ft (333 m × 78 m) flight deck |
John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) is the second Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier being built for the United States Navy. The ship is under construction and planned to be commissioned in 2020.
On 7 December 2007, the 66th anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Congressman Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) proposed naming this ship USS Arizona. In 2009, Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ) proposed naming either CVN-79 or the subsequent CVN-80 Barry M. Goldwater, after Barry Goldwater, the late senator from Arizona. On 29 May 2011, the Department of Defense announced that the ship would be named for John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), the 35th President of the United States, who served in the navy during World War II. She will be the third navy ship named after members of the Kennedy family, and the second aircraft carrier named John F. Kennedy, succeeding USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), which served from 1967 to 2007.
On 15 January 2009, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding was awarded a $374 million contract for design work and construction preparation for John F. Kennedy. On 30 September 2010, Northrop Grumman announced a new vice president for the construction of John F. Kennedy, Mike Shawcross, and that preparations were under way to begin construction.
On 25 February 2011, the navy conducted the First Cut of Steel ceremony at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Newport News, signalling the formal start of construction for John F. Kennedy.
John F. Kennedy was originally planned to be completed in 2018. This was extended to 2020 after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced in 2009 that the program would shift to a five-year building program so as to place it on a "more fiscally sustainable path". By late 2012, delays had occurred in construction, and the Navy Department was investigating extending the construction time of both the USS Enterprise (CVN-80) and John F. Kennedy by an additional two years which could delay the carrier's entry into service until 2022.
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