But Mr Pyne said the JSF program was at a very mature stage – suggesting it was too late for Mr Trump to make significant changes that could hurt Australia's interests. Christopher Pyne, speaking at the Policy Exchange in London. Credit:Nick Miller A day earlier on Fox News Mr Trump compared the JSF to the US$4 billion Air Force One order with Boeing which he had said should be cancelled. CNBC reported that shares in the Lockheed Martin lost 4 per cent, worth $US4 billion, after Trump tweeted his view. Australia has bought two Joint Strike Fighters and is expected to buy 16 more within the next three years, eventually buying around 100. The average cost is estimated at $US90 million per plane, though the first two cost $127 million each.

The planes would be more expensive should the program's size and scope be reduced. Joint Strike Fighter Lockheed Martin F-35. Mr Pyne, speaking after a speech at the Policy Exchange in Whitehall, London, said the Australian government was very confident the JSF was the right choice and Australia was very committed to the program. "Whether it has been efficiently managed from the United States' point of view of in terms of their costs and delays and so on is really a matter for them… it's perfectly fine for (Mr Trump) to have that opinion," he said.

Then prime minister Tony Abbott in a replica F-35 jet in Canberra in 2014. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "How he wants to manage the actual delivery of the program is a matter for him and for his incoming administration." Asked if he was worried that Mr Trump might cut the project in part or in whole to save money, Mr Pyne said the JSF was "a very far way down the road in terms of delivery… Obviously a great deal of money has been invested in it." Mr Trump also criticised the JSF program last year on radio, saying "I do hear that it's not very good… that our existing planes are better". The F-35 has been criticised for its jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none performance, and its stellar operating cost – put at around $50,000 per hour to fly.

One estimate is that the JSF project has cost the US around $US1.5 trillion, about the same as the war in Iraq. The most recent Pentagon estimate is that the cost to operate and sustain the F-35 fleet for its 60 years in service is over US$1 trillion. Mr Pyne also told the Policy Exchange he expected Mr Trump would have a "values based foreign policy… and that could be interesting. "It will certainly be based on principles that President-elect Trump thinks are in America's best interests. "I think he will be less inclined to look past faults of the people that he thinks might be responsible for problems in the United States and be more likely to take action about them. That's the most diplomatic way I can put it."

He predicted that America's 'pivot to Asia' would continue, but as a "foreign policy and military pivot", in contrast with president Obama's economic focus. "We welcome that too – we want the United States to be deeply involved in our area," Mr Pyne said. Mr Trump had talked about a massive increase in US military spending by $US500 billion, including new ships and aircraft. "He is talking about a significant military build-up and of course that will need to be based in the Pacific and the Atlantic," Mr Pyne said. "We welcome America's military and economic involvement in the Asia-Pacific, it's very important in terms of a balance of power equation throughout our region." Mr Pyne said the Australian government still hoped to rescue the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, by persuading the Trump administration that it might be modified rather than abandoned.

Mr Trump has pledged to withdraw from the TPP, which he called a "potential disaster for our country", on his first day in office. "We will keep talking to president Trump's administration about the importance of the TPP and how it could work for everyone's economic advantage," Mr Pyne said. "We haven't given up hope that might be the case. It might need to be modified down the track… Post January 20th we hope that we might be able to revisit that subject with him convince him and his team that it will be good for everyone. "It's a hope at this stage – but we never give up hope." Mr Pyne will meet UK secretary for defence Michael Fallon on Tuesday, and defence industry representatives to discuss opportunities for Australian defence exports. On Monday Mr Pyne visited Rolls Royce to see the MT30 engine expected to feature in the British bid for building Australia's nine 'Future Frigates". He said they were "extraordinary".