The Fordclass, including the underconstruction USS John F. Kennedy, will be the world’s premier aircraft carrier. Frankly, the U.S. is uncontested with respect to aircraft carrier technology; the U.S. legacy fleets, like the Enterprise and the Nimitzclass, which the Ford is replacing, are more advanced than any carrier in any other countries’ arsenal. But the Fordclass is forwardlooking, designed to remain superior well into the future, even as China works to expand its naval capabilities and challenge U.S. hegemony.