Lockheed Martin CEO promises to cut cost of F-35

Lockheed Martin’s CEO on Friday said she gave President-elect Donald Trump a “personal commitment” to reduce the price of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

“I had a very good conversation with President-elect Trump this afternoon and assured him that I’ve heard his message loud and clear about reducing the cost of the F-35,” Marillyn Hewson said in a statement.

“I gave him my personal commitment to drive the cost down aggressively,” she added.

Trump has been pressuring Lockheed Martin to lower the “tremendous cost” of the aircraft and pinned the company against Boeing in a tweet on Thursday.

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“Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!” the president-elect tweeted.

Immediately following the tweet, the Lockheed Martin shares fell by approximately 2 percent, while Boeing shares went up by 0.5 percent, according to CNBC.

Trump discussed the F-35 program with Hewson on Wednesday, promising to decrease the cost of the aircraft.

“It’s a dance. It’s a little bit of a dance, but we’re gonna get the cost down, and we’re gonna get it down beautifully. I think we’re looking to cut a tremendous amount of money,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., afterwards.

“I know that President-elect Trump wants the very best capability for our military at the lowest cost for taxpayers, and we’re ready to deliver!” Hewson said in her statement.

The Pentagon’s F-35 program is its most expensive project in history, with an estimated cost of nearly $400 billion for 2,457 planes.