U.S. Navy achieves first F-35C landing on Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy.

On October 13, 2026, the U.S. Navy achieved the first F-35C Lightning II arrested landing on a Ford-class aircraft carrier aboard the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) in the Western Atlantic. Flown by test pilots from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23), the milestone confirmed initial compatibility between the carrier-based stealth fighter and the ship's Advanced Arresting Gear. The evaluation addresses integration requirements that previously prevented early F-35C deployments on the lead ship, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), establishing foundational recovery data ahead of planned CVN-79 fleet delivery in spring 2027.

The landing confirmed that the USS John F. Kennedy could recover an F-35C using its Advanced Arresting Gear, marking a key step toward integrating stealth fighters capable of conducting strikes beyond 1,100 km into the Navy's newest aircraft carriers. (Picture source: US DoD)

On October 13, 2026, the U.S. Navy completed the first arrested landing of an F-35C Lightning II aboard a Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, when two specially instrumented stealth fighters from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) reached the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) in the Western Atlantic. The landing of the carrier-based fifth-generation fighter came 9 years, 4 months, and 13 days after the lead ship of the class, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), was delivered on May 31, 2017. The aircraft, flown by test pilots from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23), assigned to the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, participated in Aircraft Compatibility Testing with the carrier's Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG). The first recovery occurred aboard the Kennedy rather than the Ford because the latter entered service without the complete infrastructure required for sustained F-35C operations.

The F-35C was developed specifically for catapult-assisted takeoffs and arrested recoveries, with an elongated wingspan of 13.1 m, compared with 10.7 m for the land-based F-35A, and a wing area of 62.1 m² to provide greater lift during carrier approaches. The aircraft measures 15.7 m in length, has a maximum takeoff weight of 31,751 kg, and carries up to 8,958 kg of internal fuel, compared with 6,531 kg for the F/A-18E Super Hornet. Its single Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-400 engine produces 191 kN of maximum afterburning thrust, while its strengthened landing gear, reinforced airframe, arresting hook, and folding wingtips accommodate carrier operations. The F-35C is 1,814 kg heavier than the Super Hornet at maximum takeoff weight, as its greater internal fuel capacity permits longer missions without external tanks, while its larger wing and flight-control surfaces help maintain the approach speeds and stability required to engage a carrier's arresting wires.

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The reason explaining why Ford-class carriers could not initially operate the F-35C was primarily an integration problem rather than a fundamental inability of the aircraft to land on the ships. The USS Gerald R. Ford entered service in 2017 without several installations required for routine F-35C operations because aircraft-specific requirements matured after major construction decisions, while acquisition cost restrictions contributed to postponing modifications. The F135's exhaust can reach temperatures of up to 1,982°C, requiring appropriate jet blast deflectors, thermal protection, and cooling arrangements for repeated launches. Additional work involves heat-resistant deck surfaces, stealth coating repair facilities, secure mission-data processing spaces, F135 servicing equipment, and aircraft maintenance connectivity.

The Ford-class also replaces the Nimitz-class' steam catapults and conventional arresting machinery with EMALS and AAG, requiring new F-35C-specific compatibility testing. A November 2, 2020, contract modification incorporated these requirements into the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) during construction, avoiding the same degree of post-delivery alteration required on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78). The October 13 recovery also provided an opportunity to evaluate how the F-35C interacts with the Ford class's Advanced Arresting Gear. At a representative approach speed of 250 km/h, an F-35C travels at 69.4 m/s, and a 97.5 m stopping distance would produce an average deceleration of 2.5 g under constant-deceleration assumptions. At an illustrative landing mass of 25,000 kg, its kinetic energy at that speed reaches 60.3 megajoules, which the AAG must manage before accounting for the aircraft's continued engine thrust and aerodynamic forces during arrestment.

Therefore, the AAG regulates the loads transmitted through the arresting wire and aircraft tailhook according to the aircraft's mass and engagement conditions. The F-35C's Integrated Direct Lift Control, for its part, adjusts lift without equivalent pitch changes, while the Precision Landing Mode stabilizes the final approach toward the moving deck, but the pilot must still maintain alignment and execute a bolter if the hook misses the wire. The October 13 test confirmed arrested recovery, but the actual landing mass, stopping distance, engagement speed, and peak deceleration were not disclosed, preventing a quantitative comparison with the system's design limits. The USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) began being constructed at Newport News Shipbuilding in June 2015 under a two-phase delivery arrangement, replaced in November 2020 by a single-phase strategy incorporating F-35C modifications and the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar.

Section 124 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act required the carrier to possess a F-35C operational capability before completing its post-shakedown availability. The revised construction arrangement added two years of work, while AAG certification and Advanced Weapons Elevator problems subsequently moved delivery from July 2025 to March 2027. By August 2026, seven of the 11 weapons elevators were complete, providing access to all ammunition magazines, although four still required testing. Following August acceptance trials, the CVN-79 received preliminary acceptance on September 29, 2026, at 99% completion, with formal delivery planned for spring 2027. The F-35C also changes the weapons and sensor capabilities available to a carrier air wing, as it combines an AN/APG-81 AESA radar, Distributed Aperture System, AN/ASQ-239 electronic warfare equipment, and sensor fusion to detect and track airborne and surface threats.

Its internal air-to-air load currently accommodates four AIM-120 missiles, while the planned Sidekick modification would increase carriage to six, giving a squadron of 12 F-35Cs a theoretical internal capacity of 72 missiles instead of 48. Technology Refresh 3 also provides additional processing capacity for subsequent Block 4 improvements. The fighter's published combat radius exceeds 1,111 km, compared with a representative 926 km for the F/A-18E/F, although these figures depend on mission configurations. The Super Hornet retains 11 external weapons stations and an 8,029 kg maximum external weapons load, allowing mixed formations in which F-35Cs could identify defended targets and attack selected radar or command facilities, while Super Hornets launch larger numbers of standoff weapons from outside the most heavily defended areas. 

The Ford-class was designed for 160 sustained sorties daily and 270 during surge operations, compared with Nimitz-class objectives of 120 and 240, increases of 33.3% and 12.5%, respectively. An air wing comprising 12 F-35Cs and 24 Super Hornets would allocate one-third of its 36 strike fighters to low-observable missions, potentially allowing F-35Cs to detect and attack defended targets while Super Hornets employ larger external weapons loads. E-2D Hawkeyes could coordinate surveillance, EA-18G Growlers provide electronic attack, and planned MQ-25 Stingray tankers extend fighter endurance while reducing Super Hornet buddy-tanking requirements. Against long-range coastal air defense networks, the F-35C's combat radius could permit strikes without moving the carrier as close to defended shorelines, although hostile anti-ship missile ranges may exceed that distance. The October 13 recovery establishes the beginning of shipboard F-35C compatibility testing aboard the Ford-class, but the operational result will depend on F-35C availability, EMALS/AAG reliability, weapons turnaround, tanker fuel offload, and coordinated sorties sustained over consecutive days.

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Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.