F-35C makes first arrested landing on a Ford-class carrier

An F-35C Lightning II landed on the pre-commissioning aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) on Oct. 13, 2026, marking the first arrested landing by the type on a Ford-class ship. The U.S. Navy released photographs of the landing, which came shortly after the carrier reached preliminary acceptance.

The Kennedy is at sea for Aircraft Compatibility Testing, which assesses how the ship's launch and recovery equipment works with Navy aircraft. The ship has Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System catapults and Advanced Arresting Gear.

The F-35s belong to the Patuxent River F-35 Integrated Test Force, attached to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23, the Salty Dogs. Two aircraft appear in the released images. The second carried inert GBU-38 JDAM bombs as external stores.

The Navy has not released details of the testing campaign for the second Ford-class vessel. The lead ship, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), finished its compatibility testing in January 2020 after 16 days at sea, launching and recovering 211 aircraft. It is not known whether the Kennedy's testing will be shorter. It is expected to cover the aircraft types currently in service with the Navy; the F-35C was the first of those to land.