The U.S. Navy is once again facing significant setbacks in its efforts to modernize its fleet, as two of its newest Ford-class aircraft carriers—already delayed in previous years—have now been pushed back even further, according to the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget justification documents.

The USS John F. Kennedy, the next Ford-class carrier in line, was originally scheduled for delivery in July 2024.

It had already suffered a one-year delay prior to this latest update.

Now, the Navy has confirmed that its arrival will be postponed an additional two years, with delivery now not expected until March 2027.

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The cause of this most recent delay centers around key technological systems unique to the Ford-class design.

According to the budget documents, the delay is “to support completion of Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) certification and continued Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE) work.”

These advanced systems are part of the broader modernization efforts embedded in the Ford-class blueprint, which also includes upgraded nuclear reactors, electric plants, propulsion systems, and the cutting-edge Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS).

While both AAG and AWE are now fully operational aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford—the lead ship of the new class, currently deployed to Europe as tensions with Iran rise—their integration into the John F. Kennedy has proven more challenging and time-consuming than anticipated.

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In parallel, the future USS Enterprise is also suffering from repeated delays. Initially slated for delivery in 2028, its handover was first pushed to 2029, and now to July 2030.

The Navy attributes this newest delay to “delays in material availability and industry/supply chain performance.”

The timeline setback, confirmed in the FY26 budget documents, highlights ongoing systemic problems in the naval shipbuilding enterprise.

These delays are not isolated cases. They are emblematic of broader challenges the Navy has faced in modernizing its fleet.

Adm. James Kilby, acting chief of naval operations, addressed these concerns in a recent testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, where he acknowledged, “We are behind in every ship class [by] different rates, but at least years.”

Indeed, the Navy's long-running difficulties in timely shipbuilding have become a source of frustration for lawmakers, defense officials, and industry leaders alike.

Decades of underinvestment, outdated infrastructure, and a supply chain still recovering from pandemic-era disruptions have left the service scrambling to meet strategic demands.

The Ford-class carriers were envisioned as a transformative leap in naval warfare capability, designed to carry more aircraft, launch sorties faster, and operate with smaller crew sizes.

But technical hurdles—especially with first-of-its-kind systems like AAG and EMALS—have caused cost overruns and testing delays since the class was first conceived.

Despite the setbacks, the Navy remains committed to the Ford-class program.

The USS Gerald R. Ford recently departed Norfolk, Virginia, leading its strike group on a deployment to Europe.

Its successful operation of the previously problematic AAG and AWE systems serves as a proof of concept that the new technology can work as intended—though integrating those systems across the fleet remains a major bottleneck.

In response to the persistent delays, the Pentagon is working to improve the situation.

Initiatives are underway to inject new investment into the defense industrial base, expand production capacity, and modernize the Navy’s shipyards—some of which date back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

Efforts also include pursuing contracts for unmanned systems and advanced manufacturing technologies in a bid to future-proof the fleet.

But those fixes will take time. In the short term, the Navy must continue to navigate around missed milestones and reassess operational timelines.

For Congress and the American public, the question remains whether future investments can overcome decades of inertia and produce ships worthy of the world’s most powerful navy—on time and on budget.

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