Lockheed Shares Tumble After Trump Slams F-35s On Twitter
US President-elect Donald Trump says he will reduce the cost of future military programmes, after he slammed the cost of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which Britain is buying 138 of.
The fifth-generation fighter jet, produced by defence giant Lockheed Martin, is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons programme.
It'll serve in the Royal Navy and RAF.
Mr Trump tweeted on Monday that 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 20".
Shares in Lockheed fell by over 4% on Wall Street off the back of the news.
The message comes a week after the Republican condemned costs for a new Air Force One aircraft, being built by Boeing, as "out of control".
The F-35 programme has an estimated cost of nearly $400 billion (£316bn).
Mr Trump's comments come as US Defence Secretary Ash Carter visits Israel, as the country prepares to receive the first two next-generation F-35 fighter jets.
Israel is among a small number of other US allies to get the aircraft.
A Lockheed company executive, meanwhile, said the company has invested a large amount of money in bringing down the price of the F-35.
Jeff Babione, Lockheed Martin's F-35 program leader, said:
"Since the beginning, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce the price of the airplane by about 70% since its original costing, and we project it to be about $85 million in the 2019 or 2020 time-frame."
An MoD spokesperson, meanwhile, said:
"We remain committed to the F-35 programme and believe it offers the best capability for our Armed Forces."
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