Trump Sets Up Jet Dogfight

By Doug Cameron 

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday continued his pressure on the defense sector by suggesting he could use a Boeing Co. plane as a substitute for the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 combat jet.

"Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F/A-18 Super Hornet!" he said in a tweet, referring to a Boeing plane that has long been used by the Navy and some overseas allies.

The Pentagon plans to acquire more than 2,400 of the F-35 jets to replace much of its combat fleet in what is by far its costliest program, and Mr. Trump has singled it out for criticism after a legacy of delays and design problems.

Lockheed shares fell 2% in after-hours trade, with Boeing up 1%. The F-35 accounts for more than 20% of Lockheed's annual sales. Mr. Trump met the chief executives of both companies on Wednesday.

Pentagon officials have long said the two planes served very different roles, with the F-35 providing more radar-evading features and serving as an airborne command post. Variants of the F/A-18 are used as attack jets and to provide electronic countermeasures to protect U.S. forces.

Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the military head of the F-35 program, said this week that the capabilities of the F-35 couldn't be diluted.

The two jets have faced off to win contracts for overseas governments, with the F-35 prevailing in most of them.

Boeing, which had no immediate comment, is pressing the Navy to buy more F/A-18s.

Lockheed Martin declined to comment.

The F-35 entered service with the Marine Corp. in 2015 and with the Air Force earlier this year.

The Pentagon said the average cost of the model used by the Air Force has fallen to $102 million, though some budget watchdogs said this excludes some expenses such as fixing past design problems. Defense analysts estimate the F/A-18 costs $70 million to $80 million.

Write to Doug Cameron at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 22, 2016 18:29 ET (23:29 GMT)

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