President-elect Trump’s assertion that the contract for the F-35 is worth $1.5 trillion is “completely meaningless,” according to one analyst.
Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group, said the number Trump used during a speech on New Year’s Eve, which has been cited by others over the years, is one that has been “created out of nowhere.”
In a video posted online Monday, Trump spoke about the next-generation aircraft with supporters at Mar-a-Lago and gave the contract number, which has been cited by others in the past.
“And now we have a contract, the F-35 fighter. You saw that right? $1.5 trillion. But it’s slightly over budget, like $400 million. These numbers are crazy. All I can tell you is we’re going to do a good job,” Trump said.
But the contract for the F-35 is not for $1.5 trillion. Instead, estimates have suggested that the full lifecycle costs of the Lockheed Martin aircraft, including future maintenance over the next several decades, will be just above $1 trillion. The actual total procurement contract, which is spread out over batches, will be less.
“You can get to whatever you like if you include every ounce of gas you’re going to put in the plane,” Aboulafia said. “Coming up with random headlines doesn’t serve anybody’s purpose.”
The expensive procurement program has been in Trump’s crosshairs since winning the election. Trump tweeted about its “out of control” costs and met with Lockheed Martin’s CEO to discuss the program. He also announced on Twitter that he had asked Boeing to price out a comparable F/A-18 Super Hornet because of the “tremendous cost” of the F-35.
The F-35 Joint Program Office did not respond to a request for the total value of the program. Several reports in December said the cost overruns for the program are actually $530 million, $130 million more than the figure Trump cited.
CNN reported on Monday that during that same speech, Trump discussed his efforts to reduce the cost of the Air Force One replacement, which will be built by Boeing. He said he met with military leaders after the election who told him the overall cost of the program will be $4 billion. Trump then said he will reduce the overall program cost to $3 billion, and said the generals he met with were “beautiful” and made “Tom Cruise look like dirt.”
