Lockheed Martin CEO: Close to deal to lower F-35 costs, add 1,800 jobs after meeting with Trump (LMT)
Senior Airman Stormy Archer/US Air Force
WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp is close to a deal to significantly lower the cost of its F-35 aircraft, its Chief Executive Officer Marillyn Hewson said on Friday following a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Hewson, speaking to reporters in Trump Tower, added that Lockheed plans to increase jobs at its Fort Worth, Texas, facility by 1,800, which would add "thousands and thousands of jobs" across the supply chain in 45 U.S. states.
Here are the full comments from Hewson:
"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. 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.
"In fact we are going to increase our jobs in Fort Worth by 1,800 jobs and when you think about the supply chain across 45 states in the US it's going to be thousands and thousands of jobs. And 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."
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Writing by Susan Heavey)
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