Another victory for President-elect Donald Trump.
Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson told reporters after a meeting today at Trump Tower that the defense contractor would be cutting the cost of the F-35 fighter jet — following multiple vocal requests from Trump.
“I also had the opportunity to give him some ideas on things we think we can do to continue to drive the cost down on the F-35 program, so it was a great meeting,” Hewson said after Friday’s meeting.
“We had the opportunity to talk to [Trump] about the F-35 program, and I certainly share his views that we need to get the best capability to our men and women in uniform and we have to get it at the lowest possible price,” the CEO added.
“So I’m glad I had the opportunity to tell him that we are close to a deal that will bring the cost down significantly from the previous lot of aircraft to the next lot of aircraft and moreover it’s going to bring a lot of jobs to the United States,” she said.
In addition, Hewson told reporters that her company would be adding 1,800 new jobs as part of the new deal struck with President-elect Trump.
Last month Trump appeared to try to create competition for the new fighter jet — by publicly urging Lockheed to lower costs or, he threatened, the US would bring its business elsewhere.
“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!,” he said in a Dec. 22, 2016 tweet.