Elon Musk could be in for a Texas-sized fight when it comes to potentially scrapping the Fort Worth-assembled F-35 Lightning II, a popular manned military product he calls obsolete in the age of drones.
President-elect Donald Trump’s government efficiency nominee favors cutting the pricey fighter jet — expected to cost $2 trillion over several decades — but could face opposition from city, state and congressional leaders who have supported the aircraft for years. Fort Worth-based Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. has assembled the F-35 jet, described as the military’s most advanced aircraft, since January 2016.
Musk, who along with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is nominated to lead Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, met with legislators on Capitol Hill Thursday.
In an X post last month, referencing a Bloomberg report about reliability and security issues with the jet, Musk said, “Some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35.”
The F-35, he posted to the platform he owns on Nov. 25, “was broken at the requirements level, because it was required to be too many things to too many people. This made it an expensive & complex jack of all trades, master of none. Success was never in the set of possible outcomes.”
“Manned fighter jets “are obsolete in the age of drones anyway,” he said. “Will just get pilots killed.”
A spokeswoman for the city of Fort Worth said the city “is aware of ongoing conversations about the F-35 program and will continue to monitor them.”
Texans have said they are proud of their work on the national defense.
On Nov. 18, Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated the arrival of an F-35 jet for the 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, making it the first standalone reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35.
“Another milestone for our Texas military community,” Abbott said in a post on X, the social media platform once known as Twitter. “Texas continues to play a pivotal role in advancing national defense”
Abbott, who visited Fort Worth in June 2016 when Israel’s F-35 fighter was unveiled at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. plant, said he was “proud that Texans continue the legacy of delivering air superiority in defense of freedom worldwide.”
“I am proud the F-35 — the most technologically advanced fighter jet — is manufactured here in Fort Worth by Lockheed Martin,” he said at the time. “This stealth fighter is already serving the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marines. Now it will aid our ally Israel.”
In a statement, Lockheed Martin Corp. said the company looks forward to working with Trump and his team.
“As we did in his first term, we look forward to a strong working relationship with President Trump, his team, and also with the new Congress to strengthen our national defense,” the company said. “The F-35 is the most advanced, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world, a vital deterrent and the cornerstone of joint all-domain operations.”
Lockheed CFO Jay Malave talked about the company’s relationship with the government on Dec. 3 at the UBS Global Industrials & Transportation Conference in Manalapan, Florida, Defense One reported.
“I would expect, over time, that there will be different priorities in this administration,” Malave said at the conference. “It typically happens, the administration prioritizes things that maybe the prior one didn’t. I think the good thing about Lockheed Martin is that we’re accustomed to that. We know how to operate in that environment and how to adjust quickly.”
He said he expects Lockheed defense programs to be scrutinized.
“With government efficiency, you could see elements of addition by subtraction, so ultimately, you could see a higher budget, a request than what we’ve seen from the prior administration, but it could be as a result of some things either being curtailed or canceled, and other things being prioritized,” Malave said. “Until we get that visibility, it’s really hard to speculate on what we’ll see.”
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas voiced his support for the F-35 jet in 2023 when he and 21 other senators urged the Senate Armed Services and Defense Appropriations committees to continue financial support of the program.
“The F-35 is providing unmatched stealth, connectivity, and interoperability with our allies and enables alliance-based deterrence and diplomacy,” the letter said. “It redefines how we train, fight and win with our allies enabling critical joint capabilities and building coalitions while strengthening global security. Further, it powers job growth, workforce development, and economic opportunity across the United States.
“As global threats continue to rise, it is critical that the United States and our allies stay the course and continue to invest in F-35 production rate, modernization, and sustainment.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz hasn’t publicly reacted to Musk’s comments on the F-35, but expressed support for the aircraft during a 2020 tour of the production facility.
“The F-35 Lightning II Program provides good paying jobs to Texans & plays (an) integral role in helping Texas lead the way to defend America,” Cruz posted on social media.
U.S. Rep.-elect Craig Goldman, who will replace retiring Rep. Kay Granger — a staunch supporter of the F-35 — did not respond to requests for comment from the Fort Worth Report.
While campaigning for the seat, Goldman told the Tri-County Reporter that he intended to “promote and make certain the U.S. continues to fund the building of the F-35.”
“The world is unstable, and making certain we and our allies have strong national defenses is critical,” he wrote in a questionnaire to the Azle-based publication.
Granger, the outgoing chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said she secured “major funding important to our local economy and community, as well as that of our great state and nation” upon passage of final funding bills for fiscal year 2024.
That funding included money for 86 new F-35 fighters and associated enhancements, as well as funding to support over 17 suppliers that represent 49,000 direct and indirect jobs.
“In this legislation, Republicans curbed wasteful spending, provided border enforcement funding, and continued to provide our Armed Services with the critical resources they need to defend America,” she said. “As I have done since my first day in Congress, I will always advocate for the needs of the families in TX-12 and work to support the economic engines in North Texas.”
U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona also defended the aircraft since 56th Fighter Wing pilots at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale are trained on the F-35 after a previous focus on the F-16.
“I understand Elon Musk’s point that, over time, drone and drone technology is going to be increasingly important, but the suggestion that we should eliminate the F-35 program and manned Air Force flights … is wrong-headed,” Stanton told KNXV-TV in Phoenix.
The F-35 fighter jet’s effectiveness was demonstrated in October when Israel conducted retaliatory strikes against Iran, according to British Adm. Tony Radakin, the United Kingdom’s chief of defense staff.
The strikes — involving more than 100 aircraft — targeted military sites, including destroying Iran’s air defense systems and missile manufacturers, Business Insider reported.
“It has destroyed Iran’s ability to produce ballistic missiles for a year and left Tehran with a strategic dilemma in how it responds,” Radakin said during a Royal United Services Institute lecture Dec. 4 in London. “That is the power of fifth-generation aircraft, combined with exquisite targeting and extraordinary intelligence. And that was all delivered from a single sortie.”
The Government Accountability Office has reviewed the F-35 program annually since 2001 and made 54 recommendations for improvement.
Lockheed Martin has lingering issues with its Technology Refresh 3 upgrade for the F-35 jet, prompting the Pentagon to announce that it would withhold about $5 million for each jet the company delivers with an unfinished upgrade, according to the F-35 Joint Program Office. The delays could cost Lockheed an estimated $1 billion.
The F-35 Joint Program Office said in August that the Pentagon began accepting upgraded F-35s in July after a yearlong delay, but the government is withholding payments for those jets since the technology update is not complete. A full combat software patch is expected next year. Technology-enhanced F-35s with improved core processing power and memory capacity that have been delivered are currently being used for training.
The software delay has meant Lockheed Martin will deliver fewer jets this year, Jim Taiclet, the company’s chairman, president and CEO, said in an earnings call earlier this year. The company now expects to deliver about 75 to 110 F-35s this year — possibly less than the estimated 97 jets delivered in 2023 and lower than the company’s estimate to produce up to 153 jets in 2024.
Lockheed delivered the first F-35s with the T-3 software upgrade in July. Those aircraft went to Dannelly Field in Alabama and Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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