Now Trump has cost of 'out of control' F-35 fighter jet program in his sights after calling for new Air Force One to be canceled

  • F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is supposed to deliver new planes to USAF, Navy and Marine Corps
  • But program has been hit by problems including cost, and questions over its effectiveness 
  • Trump tweeted last week about the cost of the program to replace Air Force One with new Boeing 747-8s 
  • Planes are also being bought by U.S. allies to serve in Britain's Royal Air Force and eventually Royal Navy, in Australia, Israel and others including Canada

By Reuters

Published: 09:00 EST, 12 December 2016 | Updated: 15:32 EST, 12 December 2016

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump took aim at another major defense contractor on Monday, saying the cost of Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet program was too high.

'The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th,' Trump said on Twitter.

The aerospace giant's shares dropped 2.6 percent in premarket trade after Trump's tweet.

'Out of control': The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - seen in its Navy version - program came under fierce attack from the president-elect

Attack: Trump tweeted about the F-35's problems on Monday morning

The Pentagon's director of testing said it is 'not on a path toward success but instead on a path toward failing to deliver' the plane's full combat capabilities on time, according to Bloomberg. 

A week before Trump won the Nov. 8 presidential election, the U.S. Defense Department and Lockheed Martin concluded negotiations on their ninth contract for F-35 fighter jets after 14 months of negotiations on the deal of more than $6.1 billion, the Pentagon said.

Lockheed Martin attempted to play down the row, with a spokesman telling the Wall Street Journal: 'We look forward to working with the president-elect and his administration to further build on the F-35 program’s record of demonstrated performance and affordability.'

 Trump campaigned on a promise to cut waste in federal government.

Last week, he also used Twitter to target Boeing Co for its 'out of control' costs on a new fleet of Air Force One planes, urging the federal government to 'Cancel order!'

Trump's intervention is far from the first politician's critique of the F-35 program.

Dubbed 'the most expensive weapon in history', the multirole stealth jet has been dogged by problems.

The total cost of the program, $379 billion at current estimates, is the biggest for a fighter jet, and decisions over it will be one of the first items to land on the desk of Trump's choice to lead the Pentagon, retired Marine General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis.

It is intended to replace a variety of planes, the F-16, A-10 Warthog, and F/A-18 Hornet, which fulfill a variety of roles and take off both from land and sea.

Its three variations include carrier-launched and ground-launched planes, and ones capable of landing vertically.

But the contract signed in 1996 has been hit time after time by cost upgrades, delays and questions over the effectiveness of the plane.

In 2011, President Obama's then defense secretary Robert Gates put the whole program 'on probation, saying: 'The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of restraint.'

Two years later his successor Leon Panetta took it off probation, but since then there have been other issues.

In 2014, the General Audit Office put the operating costs of the F-35 at 79 per cent higher than the jets it was replacing, while a report that year put the cost increase in the program since 2001 at 43 per cent above inflation.

Notoriously, an F-35 lost a simulated dogfight to an F-16, the 1970s-era fighter it was supposed to replace.

The Army have expressed concern at the loss of the A-10 Warthog - a cold war 'tank-buster' which is beloved by ground troops for its ability to 'loiter' over enemy targets at slow speed and rain down weapons on them - saying the F-35 may not be good enough in that role.

  And there have been safety concerns too - including test pilots warning that visibility was inadequate for combat, while the ejector seat's problems mean pilots under 135lbs cannot use the planes.

HOW DOES IT COMPARE WITH ITS 1970S PREDECESSOR, THE F-16 JET?

 F-35

Role:  Stealth multirole fighter

First flight:  December 15, 2006

Unit cost (not including engine): 

F-35A - $98million

F-35B - $104million

F-35C - $116million 

Number built: 115 (as of November 2014) 

Length: 15.67m

Wingspan: 10.7m

Height: 4.33m

Max speed (F-35A): 1,930kph

Armament: 

One of the most highly-anticipated features of the F-35 armament is the Small Diameter Bomb II (SBD II).The bomb is able to guide towards its target using laser, imaging infrared or radar homing.

It can hit moving or stationary targets in any weather, or at night, with unprecedented reliability and accuracy.

The 'super weapon' is predicted to be the most versatile air-to-ground munition in the Pentagon's air combat inventory.

The cost per SDB II is said to be around $250,000 and the US military plans on buying as many as 17,000 of them.

 F-16

Role:  Multirole fighter

 First flight: January 20, 1974

Unit cost:

F-16A/B - $14.6million

F-16C/D - $18.8million 

Number built: 4,540+ 

Length: 15.06m

Wingspan: 9.96m

Height: 4.88m 

Max speed (F-16C): 2,120kph

Combat history: 

 The F-16 has served in the Air Forces of 26 nations, including the U.S., Israel, Egypt, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway.

During Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 assault on Iraq, F-16s flew over 13,000 operations, more than any other Coalition aircraft.

The U.S. has employed the F-16 in operations over the Balkans, Afghanistan and Libya.  

At its production peak in 1987, the F-16 team in Fort Worth was also making history, by producing 30 F-16s in just 30 days. 

Thanks to frequent upgrades improving and incorporating new technologies into the cockpit, avionics, sensors and weapons, the aircraft has become more reliable over its 40 years.

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