Trump targets Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet costs

Trump’s attack actually began on Sunday morning, in an interview with Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace. USA government orders made up 78 percent of its revenue a year ago. “The F-35 program and cost is out of control”, Trump tweeted.

“In future conversations, I plan to emphasize the superior capabilities of the F-35 and the indispensable role this aircraft plays in our national defense strategy”, Hatch, the Senate’s senior Republican, said in an email to the Standard.

In response to Trump’s comments, Lockheed Martin defended the F-35s and their cost.

The aerospace giant’s shares dropped about four per cent in early trading after Trump’s tweet, while shares of several other defence contractors also weakened.

Mr. Trump didn’t mention Lockheed or any other company by name in his criticism. Carrier later pared its workforce shift after getting state aid from Indiana.

The aircraft has been criticized previously by Trump and others over cost overruns, delays in complex software for its navigation and weapons systems, and optimistic Pentagon projections for when problems will be fixed.

He was in Israel on Monday with US Defence Secretary Ash Carter as the country prepared to take delivery of first F-35 fighters. The company said the program creates about 146,000 U.S.jobs across the USA and Puerto Rico. Shares of Raytheon Co. dropped 1.7 percent to $143.81, Northrop Grumman Corp. fell 2.7 percent to $232.07 and General Dynamics Corp. fell 1 percent to $173.74. In April, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said that estimated acquisitions costs for the program had decreased since 2014, though it still said the program faced “significant affordability challenges”. He hasn’t said how he would push down costs. “However, unit prices have been declining, and the program has stabilized in recent years”. “We don’t believe investors should panic over the program’s prospects based on a single Trump tweet”, he said in a note to clients Monday. “It’s an incredible program”.

He said that the company had already invested millions of dollars towards reducing the price of the plane by 70% from its original cost.

“We project it to be about US$85 million (NZ$118 million) in the 2019 or 2020 time frame”, he told reporters in Israel. The remarks also signaled that the Pentagon’s planned ramp-up of F-35 production this decade isn’t guaranteed.

“This is the only fifth generation aircraft available”. The Pentagon is expected to build as many as 2,443 F-35 warplanes, spending as much as $391 billion in total. So far, Lockheed Martin has lost more than $3 billion in market value.

So why, now, is Trump interested in the F-35 program?

“But more importantly, it’s wonderful technology”, he said. Despite the huge cost, the program has strong bipartisan support in Congress, where lawmakers view the aircraft as essential to US national security.