The U.S. Navy’s Oldest Active Aircraft Carrier Isn’t Retired Just Yet

USS Nimitz Is Underway, Not Deployed

In U.S. Navy speak, an underway means a ship has left the pier, is untied from the shore, and is not anchored or touching the ground. It is also an umbrella term for time spent at sea. It can mean a short two-day local training operation, a multi-week fleet exercise, or the start of a months-long deployment.

In the case of the USS Nimitz, the supercarrier will not deploy for combat operations again; yet, its service life was extended to March 2027 to keep the U.S. Navy at a legally required minimum of 11 operational aircraft carriers.

Under Title 10 U.S.C. § 8062, the U.S. Navy must maintain 11 active carriers on paper. CVN-68 had been scheduled to be retired this past spring, but its service was extended due to delays with the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), which won’t be handed over to the service until next March.

Upon decommissioning, the USS Nimitz will begin inactivation and reactor defueling at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding.

What Is PALS?

Until next year’s planned decommissioning, the oldest active supercarrier is being used as an aviation and fleet training platform. That includes this week’s Precision Approach Landing Systems Certification, or PALS, which the U.S. Navy explained is “supported by the ship’s combat systems department and Carrier Air Traffic Controller Center (CATCC),” in which it “aids pilots as they execute night or bad weather landings, guiding pilots to a good starting position for approaches; and is a requirement for ships to conduct flight operations.”

PALS includes an integrated suite of systems that helps pilots execute precision approaches and carrier recoveries, including AN/SPN-46, an automatic carrier landing system that can land aircraft hands-off; AN/SPN-41 or similar instrument carrier landing system that provides visual/cockpit glide slope and centerline error data; and a Joint Precision Approach and Landing System, a GPS-based precision landing system that is used with advanced aircraft. As the USS Nimitz was never certified to operate the fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, it is unclear if the JPALS system is employed on the carrier.

Moreover, the recent underway period wasn’t just about the PALS certification.

“Sailors used the underway as an opportunity to conduct training in preparation for future at sea operations, including aircraft recovery, damage control, propulsion and other drills,” the U.S. Navy noted, adding that these certifications and training drills will ready the USS Nimitz for future underway periods, where it will support East Coast carrier qualifications, the important milestone in the training of student naval aviators, providing them with the first opportunity to land on the flight deck of an operational U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.

In other words, although the USS Nimitz may leave the flight in less than six months’ time, the supercarrier will provide the basis for sailors and aviators who will serve with the U.S. Navy for years and even decades to come.