After meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower, Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson said she would increase jobs in their Fort Worth F-35 facility by 1,800 and find ways to lower the cost of the aircraft.

“We are going to increase our jobs in Fort Worth by 1,800 jobs and when you think about the [F-35] supply chain across 45 states in the U.S. it’s going to be thousands and thousands of jobs,” Hewson said outside Trump Tower following a meeting with the president-elect.

“I also had the opportunity to give him some ideas on things we think we can do to continue to drive the cost down on the F-35 program, so it was a great meeting,” she continued.

“We had the opportunity to talk to him about the F-35 program and I certainly share his views that we need to get the best capability to our men and women in uniform and we have to get it at the lowest possible price,” she said.

“So I’m glad I had the opportunity to tell him that we are close to a deal that will bring the cost down significantly from the previous lot of aircraft to the next lot of aircraft and moreover it’s going to bring a lot of jobs to the United States,” Hewson continued. – The Washington Post

Despite numerous delays and cost overruns it is clear that the F-35 is the future of US military aviation. Based on the comments by Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson the criticisms by President-elect Trump seem to have motivated Lockheed Martin to take action on lowering the costs while at the same time increasing jobs to support the program.

In addition to the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps the F-35 is being sold to many nations around the world.

Featured Image by Lockheed Martin