Trump says Lockheed Martin has cut $600 million from F-35 program
Source: Washington Post
President Trump said Monday that Lockheed Martin has cut $600 million from its next lot of 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter planes, capping weeks of private meetings with Lockheed Martin chief executive Marillyn Hewson and public criticisms of the programs cost.
He specified that the cost-savings would apply to the companys next group of 90 planes but offered few details on how the program or contract would change as a result.
Whats happening with Lockheed, number one were cutting the price of their planes by a lot but theyre also expanding and thats going to be a good thing. Ultimately theyre going to be better off, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The presidents public back-and-forth with Lockheed began in late December when he took to Twitter to criticize the program for cost overruns. At the time, he asked aerospace company Boeing to price out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet, suggesting he would substitute Boeings cheaper plane for Lockheeds.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/01/30/trump-says-lockheed-martin-has-cut-600-million-from-f-35-program/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_cp-lockheed-1118am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.6d7668c7337e
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)Granted the plane on paper looks good but its still not nearly ready for prime time imo.
Would cancelling the f-35 and building more f-22's make more sense? It seems to me that the f-22 is ready for prime time.
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)VTOL but otherwise I dont understand why they dont order more 22s either unless there is something wrong with the 22 that the military is hiding.
VMA131Marine
(4,124 posts)Close Air Support*
F-22 is an air superiority fighter not a bomb truck that can also defend itself.
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)NWCorona
(8,541 posts)The sound of the GAU-8/A is like nothing else.
VMA131Marine
(4,124 posts)Not likely, but it will do better than the F/A-18 and F-16 in their roles.
NWCorona
(8,541 posts)ozone82
(91 posts)F35 can carry up to 18,000 pounds of bombs, and the F22 can carry up to 22,000 pounds, but for both that means using external hard points, which on an enemies radar is like saying, I'M HERE!!!! SHOOT AT ME!!!!
ozone82
(91 posts)The Air Force would want them, but they may not be able to be modified for carrier operations for the Navy and Marines, so those two branches would have to make due with the non-stealth FA/18 which is far less capable than the Raptor.
From April 2016: ][link:http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/2016/04/19/house-legislation-orders-f-22-restart-study/83248788/|
VMA131Marine
(4,124 posts)You could not replace the F-35 with the F-22. Not to mention that the F-22 is not carrier capable and the US Marine Corps as well as the Royal Navy are counting on the VSTOL capability of the F-35B.
Restarting F-22 production would be hugely expensive. Many of the electronic components are now functionally obsolete because of the advance of technology and would have to be redesigned.
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)Amazing technological achievement. Really can outclass anything else in the air. But. It's like the Space Shuttle was in that regard. Brilliant tech, but wrong approach.
benld74
(9,888 posts)After being over budget by
How Many B ??????
yellowcanine
(35,692 posts)So he got 90 planes for the cost of 88 planes. Whoop dee doo, what a negotiator.
VMA131Marine
(4,124 posts)The actual cost to buy one F-35 is around $90 Million. Maybe a bit more.
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)version down to $148 and the marine version around $251.
I assume the navy was going to get the VTOL version for its carriers which could explain the largest reason for the price difference.
mahatmakanejeeves
(56,896 posts)DemoTex
(25,371 posts)I do not believe a word Trump says.
VMA131Marine
(4,124 posts)The Pentagon is scheduled to buy over 2000 planes.
FailureToCommunicate
(13,989 posts)bloated Pentagon budget, Hair Furor Trump.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,043 posts)We know the deal he made with Carrier.
bhikkhu
(10,708 posts)Win-win...lockheed and trump get good press, nothing changes.
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)reggaehead
(269 posts)The costs of security for Melania and Barron for 4 years
Bengus81
(6,907 posts)Otherwise they wouldn't be around making these overpriced Top Gun aircraft.
Tikki
(14,538 posts)I thought earlier trump said the military would have no limits.
Tikki
elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)tenorly
(2,037 posts)I guess this was the least they could do (if it's even true at all).
erpowers
(9,350 posts)This had absolutely nothing to do with Donald Trump. Even someone from the American Enterprise Institute pointed out that Donald Trump was just being a politician by taking credit for this cost reduction.
"Lt. Gen Chris Bogdan, who heads the F-35 Joint Program Office at the Department of Defense, told reporters on Dec. 20 before the presidents private meetings with defense companies that the F-35s cost per plane should fall somewhere on the order of six to seven percent per airplane for the next batch of planes."
snip
The figure which Trump is taking credit for was already baked into the cake, said Mackenzie Eaglen, a military analyst with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. This is what politicians do.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/01/30/trump-says-lockheed-martin-has-cut-600-million-from-f-35-program/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_cp-lockheed-1118am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.576f442b1926
yellowcanine
(35,692 posts)development.
TexasTowelie
(111,300 posts)tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Just basic economies of scale will give a cost reduction which is part of what the F-35 is doing. Each lot is bigger so cost per aircraft are lower. LRIP 10 is cheaper than 9 and 11 cheaper than 10. Not only that, LM is boxing him into the block buy that the partner nations want to further reduce cost.