USS Gerald Ford Can’t Launch F-35C Jets, Navy Faces Retrofit Costs

The USS Gerald Ford, America’s most expensive warship at $13 billion, returned home in June after 326 days at sea flying the wrong aircraft. The ship cannot launch F-35C Lightning II stealth fighters because the jet’s exhaust reaches 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit, exceeding what the flight deck materials can withstand. The Navy must now retrofit the carrier with heat-resistant coatings and cooling systems, exposing a critical synchronization failure between ship design and aircraft development.

Why the Exhaust Heat Became a Problem

The F-35C’s engines produce exhaust temperatures of 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (1,982 degrees Celsius), far exceeding the flight deck’s design limits. Repeated high-tempo launches would literally melt the surface. The ship also lacks secure maintenance spaces and the ODIN diagnostic system required for F-35C operations. The USS Gerald Ford was designed in 2005, long before the F-35C’s final requirements were locked in. This timing gap meant the lead ship entered service incompatible with its intended next-generation fighter.

What the Navy Did Instead

During its entire 326-day deployment, the USS Gerald Ford flew older F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters instead of the F-35C. The Navy had no choice because the carrier’s flight deck could not handle the stealth jet’s thermal output. Other U.S. amphibious assault ships have already been modified to handle F-35B engines, which use a different exhaust angle. The Navy plans to apply that same retrofit experience to the USS Gerald Ford, though the work will require over a year in the shipyard.

The Broader Shipyard Crisis

The USS Gerald Ford retrofit is one symptom of a larger problem: the U.S. Navy cannot deliver carriers on time. The United States has only two shipyards capable of building nuclear-powered warships, both short of skilled workers and materials. The future USS Doris Miller slipped two years to 2034 because there is no physical space to build her. Meanwhile, China launches a new carrier every 20 months. The USS Enterprise, the third Ford-class carrier, will take just over 12 years to build, while the Doris Miller will take roughly 15 years from start to delivery.

What This Means for Naval Dominance

China now operates three carriers and plans to operate nine within a decade. The Fujian, China’s newest carrier, entered service in November 2025 with electromagnetic catapults, matching the USS Gerald Ford as the only two carriers in the world with that technology. The Pentagon views this as the fastest carrier build-up in the Indo-Pacific since World War II. The gap between U.S. and Chinese naval capacity is narrowing on a timeline the United States cannot afford to ignore.

Final Thoughts

The USS Gerald Ford’s inability to launch F-35C jets reveals a $13 billion procurement failure rooted in poor timing between ship and aircraft design. With U.S. shipyards overwhelmed and China building carriers twice as fast, the Navy faces a narrowing window to maintain Pacific dominance.

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