Trump’s tweet slams defense costs as ‘out of control,’ again

Trump’s latest Twitter broadside sent defense shares tumbling and fanned concerns that the incoming administration will reduce defense contractors’ profit margins and cut broader federal spending, threatening USA factory jobs even as Trump promises to boost manufacturing employment.

The Defense Department has a contract with manufacturer Lockheed Martin to make the F-35.

The tweet saw Lockheed-Martin’s shares dip by over 4% before closing down by 2.47%. “This is where the real waste, fraud and abuse and big dollar savings are-the hundreds of billions in misconceived and faltering modernization programs”.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was visiting Israel Monday as it prepared to receive the first two next-generation F-35 fighter jets that will help preserve the country’s military edge in the volatile Mideast.

This time around, Trump turned his gaze to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program in a tweet early Monday morning.

“The cost overruns have been a disgrace and a national outrage”, McCain said of the F-35s in 2012.

Those who work on the F-35 program responded by saying the company understands concerns about affordability and has invested millions of dollars to reduce the jet’s price.

Last Tuesday, Trump blasted Boeing’s 747 Air Force One program.

Australia is among 11 allied nations that have also committed to buying the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft, the ADF expecting a fleet of 72. The stealth fighter jets are responsible for more than 146,000 American jobs, working with more than 1,250 suppliers in 45 states.

But developing the F-35 is just one piece of the puzzle, according another GAO report-which uses Pentagon data-it will cost another $891 billion to sustain the F-35 through its life-cycle.

Last year, a test pilot admitted that the new fighter was at a disadvantage in dogfights with the venerable F-16, a fighter first introduced in 1978, because it climbed and turned slower. The pentagon is now paying $102 million for each of the jets. The development phase for the F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, was plagued by design problems and delays.