The War Zone has reported:

A U.S. Navy F-35C has made its first arrested landing aboard a Ford-class aircraft carrier, completing the milestone on the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) in the Western Atlantic on Oct. 13, 2026. The test marks progress in assessing how the Navy’s newest carrier class can launch and recover the stealth fighter, but further evaluation remains before the aircraft and ship can be considered fully qualified to operate together.

Two F-35C test pilots assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23), part of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), flew to the carrier during an ongoing Aircraft Compatibility Testing (ACT) campaign. A team from the Patuxent River-based F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF), detached to the ship, is conducting the evaluation with a specially instrumented F-35C.

Navy imagery showed two F-35Cs involved in the activity, though only one was shown landing on the flight deck. The other aircraft carried inert Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs externally. One close-up of a VX-23 jet showed a full set of underwing stores pylons and three inert 500-pound JDAM-series weapons.

The aircraft used for the evaluation bears telemetry markings across its airframe. These markings provide precise visual references that allow test teams to capture spatial data during flight operations. Instrumentation also records information during flight-deck activity, helping engineers assess system performance and identify issues for further study.

The Navy took preliminary acceptance of John F. Kennedy from Newport News Shipbuilding on Sept. 29, after the ship completed successful acceptance trials in August. Preliminary acceptance allows the carrier and crew to conduct at-sea testing and build underway proficiency while the shipbuilder finishes final systems testing. Formal delivery is scheduled for spring 2027.

The arrested landing is a key part of checking the carrier’s ability to recover an F-35C. ACT assesses how a ship’s aircraft launch and recovery equipment works with Navy aircraft, allowing engineers to examine interactions between the systems and gather data to validate performance. The current campaign is ongoing, and its results will inform the scope of remaining work.

Ford-class carriers use the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), replacing the steam-powered catapults and conventional arresting machinery used on the preceding Nimitz class. The technologies are intended to improve launch flexibility, recovery performance and the generation of sorties, but development and reliability difficulties with both systems have contributed to delays in the class’s progress.

The lead ship, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), completed its own Aircraft Compatibility Testing in January 2020 after 16 days at sea. During that period, its crew launched and recovered 211 aircraft across five airframes. The F-35C was not among the aircraft included in that testing.

In a 2019 report, The War Zone raised concerns that Ford-class carriers would not be ready to operate the F-35C for years. Gerald R. Ford had been designed and built before the fighter’s full carrier-integration requirements were sufficiently mature. The Navy deferred several upgrades to a later modernization period rather than delaying the lead ship’s delivery.

Following congressional pressure, the Navy adopted a single-phase delivery approach for John F. Kennedy, incorporating the modifications during construction. Beyond EMALS and AAG, integrating the F-35C requires changes to the carrier’s maintenance infrastructure and support systems.

Those changes include specialized spaces for handling the aircraft’s sensitive mission systems and classified data. They also include computer networks and interfaces connecting F-35C maintenance and logistics systems with the Navy’s existing infrastructure, along with facilities and equipment for maintaining the aircraft’s low-observable coatings and materials.

The Navy has identified a need for more robust jet blast deflectors (JBDs) to shield flight-deck personnel and equipment from the F-35C’s intense engine exhaust. Earlier F-35C integration work on Nimitz-class carriers included JBD changes to improve heat resistance and cooling. Plans for John F. Kennedy specifically included JBD upgrades as well as alterations to maintenance spaces and information systems.

The F-35C is the carrier variant of the fighter, designed with larger wings, reinforced landing gear and a stronger tail hook than the Air Force’s F-35A. Its ability to launch from a carrier and recover through an arrested landing is central to its role in Navy carrier air wings. U.S. Marine Corps F-35Cs also operate as part of those wings.

The first arrested landing confirms an important compatibility milestone for John F. Kennedy, while leaving open whether all requirements for testing, certification and operational qualification have been met. An electromagnetic catapult takeoff and further evaluation are still needed before the milestone can translate into an operational capability.

The test comes as China advances its own carrier aviation programme. Its Fujian aircraft carrier has demonstrated electromagnetic catapult launches and arrested recoveries involving several aircraft types, including the J-35 stealth fighter. Images circulated online showed a J-35 being prepared for takeoff aboard Fujian.

The two countries have taken different paths to electromagnetic launch technology. The U.S. Navy built decades of experience with steam-powered catapults before adopting electromagnetic systems, while China selected electromagnetic catapults for its first carrier equipped with catapults.

The demonstrations aboard Fujian and the compatibility testing aboard John F. Kennedy involve different aircraft, ships and stages of development. Both illustrate the technical work required to integrate advanced aircraft with modern carrier launch and recovery systems. For the U.S. Navy, the immediate task is to show that the Ford class can reliably support the aircraft intended for its flight deck.