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Lockheed Martin shares suffer after Trump F-35 tweet

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F-35 fighterImage source, Getty Images

Shares in Lockheed Martin have fallen after President-elect Donald Trump said he would cut the cost of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter after taking office.

He tweeted: "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."

The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons programme, costing about $400bn (£316bn).

Lockheed shares were down 4.2% at $248.51 in morning trading.

Jeff Babione, Lockheed's F-35 chief, said the company understood concerns about affordability, but added: "It's an amazing programme. It's great value and I look forward to any questions that the President-elect may have."

He was in Israel on Monday with US Defence Secretary Ash Carter as the country prepared to take delivery of first F-35 fighters.

Israel is among a small number of US allies to buy the plane.

Mr Trump's missive comes a week after he condemned as "out of control" the cost of a new Air Force One plane being built by Boeing.

Israel - which signed a deal this year for $38bn in US military aid - has ordered 50 of the new fighter jets, each priced at around $100m.

Trump and Twitter

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump's Twitter account wasn't always the powerful spectacle it has become.

His interaction with Twitter began much like any other high profile account managed by a group of marketing professionals.

Read in full - The Commander in Tweet