U.S. Navy Adds 27 New Warships in 5 Years Outpacing Global Rivals in Modernization

"To determine the U.S. Navy's newest warships, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the military data site World Directory of Modern Military Warships' directory of all active ships in the U.S. and cross-referenced with data from the Naval Vessel Register. We compiled data on all ships and submarines - 27 in total - that have been commissioned in the service of the U.S. Navy in the past five years and ranked them by age. It should be noted that this list is current as of September 2025."

"For the U.S. Navy, the Nimitz-class carriers are starting to age out, as most are 30 years and older, and the U.S. plans to replace them with the newer Ford-class supercarriers. The newest is the Gerald R. Ford, which was commissioned in 2017. After years of testing, she only recently achieved full deployment status. Going forward, the Navy will replace the Nimitz carriers on a one-for-one basis with Ford-class carriers."

The U.S. Navy is undergoing fleet modernization with newly commissioned Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Virginia-class submarines, and a planned transition from Nimitz-class to Ford-class carriers. Shipbuilding and commissioning remain multiyear processes that lengthen for larger vessels. The Constellation-class represents a new warship design not yet commissioned. Research compiled data on 27 ships and submarines commissioned within the past five years, current as of September 2025. The Gerald R. Ford, commissioned in 2017, recently achieved full deployment status after extended testing. Destroyers account for about 22% of the fleet and submarines about 21%.

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