Major milestone for USS Nimitz
On 22 April 2023, the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) reached a major milestone with 350.000 arrested fixed-wing aircraft landings in nearly a half-century.
According to the information published in the Stars and Stripes an F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22 Fighting Redcocks ('NA-1xx') made the "350.000th" arrested landing whilst the aircraft carrier was cruising South China Sea.
The Super Hornet was flown by Navy Capt. Craig Sicola, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and Cmdr. Luke Edwards, commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22.
The USS Nimitz is the first of the Navy’s Nimitz-class carriers and was commissioned on 3 May 1975 as CVAN-68 (a month later redesignated as CVN-68), making its first arrested landing that same year. According to the US Navy the Nimitz is now the oldest active aircraft carrier anywhere in the world.
Recently it became known that the aircraft carrier will leave service in 2026, one year later than originally planned. The Nimitz will now undergo a five-and-a-half-month maintenance availability overhaul that will carry the aircraft carrier into May 2026. The fiscal 2024 budget request extends the Nimitz’s service life by 13 months, from April 2025 to May 2026.
Photo by Caitlin Flynn/US Navy