President-elect keeps pressure on Lockheed-Martin’s expensive stealth fighter, saying he has invited Boeing to cost up its older Super Hornet jet

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Donald Trump has again criticised the cost of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet and tweeted that he has asked Boeing to offer a price for an older aircraft that lacks the same stealth capabilities.

Trump posted his message on Thursday, a day after the president-elect met the chief executives of both aerospace companies. In after-hours trading following the tweet, Lockheed shares fell 2% and Boeing’s rose 0.7%.



Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 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!

While the F-35 program has been dogged by problems and costs have escalated to an estimated $379bn, it is significantly newer than the F-18 Super Hornet Trump referred to. The aircraft does not have the same stealth capabilities.

“They’re two completely different aircraft from different generations,” said Phillip Carter, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based thinktank. “It’s like comparing an old jeep to a Humvee.”

Trump calls on US to 'greatly strengthen and expand' nuclear weapons capability Read more

Dan Grazier of the Project on Government Oversight, a non-profit that investigates government contractors, said the F-35’s stealth capabilities drove up the cost, and its usefulness had not yet been demonstrated. He said canceling the program, however, would be “disruptive”.

On the campaign trail, Trump touted his negotiating skills as a businessman, and he appears to be using similar tactics as he prepares to take office on 20 January. It was not clear how his blunt style would translate to Pentagon procurement or international diplomacy.



On Wednesday, Trump met the CEOs of Lockheed and Boeing at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Boeing’s CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, said he had guaranteed costs would not get out of control for a replacement to Air Force One, the presidential plane, another project Trump has called too expensive.

Trump's tweet about Lockheed-Martin cuts $4bn in value as share prices fall Read more

Lockheed’s chief executive, Marillyn Hewson, did not speak to reporters but said in a statement the meeting was “productive.” Trump said he wanted to cut the F-35 program’s costs.

If Trump scrapped the F-35, such a move by a new administration would have some precedent. President Jimmy Carter canceled the B-1 bomber program in June 1977, although it was resurrected by his White House successor, Ronald Reagan.

Trump’s jockeying for leverage via his Twitter account is likely to be a hurdle for all US defense contractors in the next administration, Roman Schweizer, aerospace and defense analyst at financial services firm Cowen & Co, wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.“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,” Schweizer wrote. “This is Lockheed Martin’s time in the barrel.”

Lockheed declined to comment. The F-35 program is a critical sales generator for the company, accounting for 20% of last year’s revenue of $46.1bn.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher said in an email the company was committed to providing the capability and affordability to meet national security needs.