Criticism of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, which gave rise to the 5th generation F-35 Lightning II fighter, by Elon Musk gained a new chapter this week when journalist Lydia Moyniham, from the New York Post, declared that President-elect Donald Trump may cancel the contract during his term.
According to her, Trump told Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet that he plans to end a US$ 1 trillion deal because “China is winning the fighter race.”
A Trump supporter and future member of the government, Musk wrote in November that the F-35 is “an expensive & complex jack of all trades, master of none.”
Lockheed Martin responded to the journalist’s post. “This is false reporting and fake news,” the company replied.
Up to 68 fighters in fiscal 2025 budget
The F-35 fighter has been in service since 2015 and is an aircraft designed to perform missions for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
To this end, Lockheed has developed three variants with significant differences: the F-35A, a conventional fighter; the F-35B, with V/STOL capability; and the F-35C, which operates aboard aircraft carriers.
This is false reporting and fake news. https://t.co/3IhWrDulV6
— Lockheed Martin News (@LMNews) December 11, 2024
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to acquire 2,470 of the type and recently approved full-rate production of the F-35.
For fiscal year 2025, the Biden administration submitted a proposal to the US Congress foreseeing the acquisition of a batch of 68 fighters, 42 F-35A (USAF), 13 F-35B (USMC) and 13 F-35C (nine for the Navy and four for the Marines).
The F-35 has also been chosen by 19 other countries, many of them partners in the JSF program.
Lockheed Martin has already produced more than a thousand combat aircraft, however, production has suffered from delays due to problems with a technological update called TR-3 (Technical Refresh 3), which belongs to Block 4 of the F-35.
In Europe, the F-35 has become the main fighter of NATO members, also being chosen by countries close to the Russian border, such as Poland and Romania.
