The military under the Trump administration will see new competition targeting the F-35 as a push to ?reduce costs. President-elect Donald Trump, in a combative first press conference since he was elected, said he has gotten to know the “fantastic” admirals and generals involved in the F-35 program. “We’re going to do some big things on the F-35 program, and perhaps the F-18 program,” he said. “And we’re going to get those costs way down and we’re going to get the plane to be even better. And we’re going to have some competition and it’s going to be a beautiful thing.” Much like Trump’s tweet targeting F-35 costs late last year, his comments sparked drop in Lockheed Martin stock, which began to recover Wednesday afternoon.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth foot-stomped the Pentagon's push for acquisition speed and contractor accountability in a Jan. 12 speech at Lockheed Martin’s production hub in Fort Worth, Texas—the heart of the department’s biggest acquisition program, the F-35.
