EXCLUSIVE: Aircraft carrier Nimitz service life extended until 2027

WASHINGTON — Amid the strain of extended deployments, the Navy told Breaking Defense it has officially decided to keep its oldest active aircraft carrier in the water a little longer, prolonging the service life of the USS Nimitz to March 2027.

A service official revealed the change late Friday, pushing back previous plans to mothball the ship this May.

Extending the Nimitz’s service life means that the Navy could maintain its fleet of 11 carriers. The service is awaiting its newest aircraft carrier, the second Ford-class John F. Kennedy, which is currently slated for delivery in March 2027.

The Nimitz departed Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington on March 7 to head to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia as part of a scheduled homeport shift for the remainder of its service life. It will then undergo its inactivation and defueling of the reactor at HII in Newport News.

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The carrier returned to Bremerton in December, after concluding a nine-month deployment to US Central Command and US Indo-Pacific Command. 

While underway, the carrier strike group also supported US Africa Command by participating in strikes targeting the Islamic State (ISIS) in Somalia. Altogether, the Nimitz’s crew completed 8,500 sorties totaling 17,000 flight hours. 

In a historical echo, among the first of the Nimitz’s tasks [PDF] when it was a young ship was to support Operation Eagle Claw, the ultimately doomed effort to rescue American hostages held in Iran in 1980. The Trump administration has cited the hostage-taking as part of its justification for current operations against the Iranian regime.