A Dutch Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jet takes off from Edwards Air Force Base, California, on Nov. 24, 2015. | Getty Trump drops Twitter bomb on Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet

President-elect Donald Trump elevated his criticism of Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter today, saying he's asked Boeing to explore pricing for an alternative to the costly fighter jet.

"Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!" Trump tweeted Thursday.


Trump's tweet sent Lockheed's share prices into a nosedive in after-hours trading and Boeing's on a rise. It came after he held meetings with the CEOs of both companies on Wednesday, as well as with a slew of military officials, including the F-35 program manager, Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan.

After the meeting with the military brass, Trump said the focus was "primarily the F-35, trying to get the costs down."

Since being elected, Trump has slammed the F-35 as an "out of control" program, and he's also gone after Boeing's new Air Force One contract.

But the latest broadside stunned defense analysts, who called the president-elect’s level of direct involvement in federal procurement unprecedented.

“We have no idea how this plays out but believe ‘Twitter risk’ for defense companies could be a significant issue over the next four years,” said Roman Schweizer, a defense analyst at the Cowan Research Group. “This is Lockheed Martin's time in the barrel. This level of presidential interest, let alone from a president-elect, is unprecedented.”

“There's been an active debate about what Trump could do in terms of canceling contracts,” he added. “After Jan. 20, he will be The President of the United States of America. He has the authority to launch a nuclear strike to end civilization as we know it. He can surely cancel or significantly modify a defense program.”

The F-35 program, the biggest weapons initiative in Pentagon history, has been plagued by cost overruns and years of schedule delays. But Bogdan and other Pentagon officials argue the program is now on track.

Boeing's F-18 jet is a Navy plane, and has been viewed as a potential alternative to the Navy's F-35 aircraft carrier variant. There are also Air Force and Marine Corps versions of the fighter.

Even critics of the F-35 in Congress have acknowledged the program is effectively "too big to fail" at this stage. The F-35 is still in the development phase — though the Marines and Air Force have declared that the fighter has reached initial operational capability, which means it's technically ready for combat.

A Lockheed spokesman declined comment on Trump's tweet.

Todd Blecher, a Boeing representative, replied to the tweet saying they were committed to working with Trump.

"We have committed to working with the president elect and his administration to provide the best capability, deliverability and affordability across all Boeing products and services to meet our national security needs," Blecher said in a statement.