Lockheed Martin

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis ordered cost-cutting reviews of two major aircraft acquisition programs, the F-35 fighter jet and Boeing Co’s (BA.N) next-generation of Air Force One presidential plane.
President Donald Trump has derided Lockheed Martin’s (LMT.N) F-35 program as being too expensive.

The chief of U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin met on Jan. 13 with Donald Trump, promising to create thousands of jobs and bring down costs of the stealth fighter the president-elect lambasted.

Trump last month slammed Lockheed in one of his customary Twitter attacks for the "out of control" costs of the F-35 fighter jet, sending the company's share price plunging.

President-elect Donald Trump took aim on Dec. 12 at a second U.S. aerospace giant in as many weeks, this time attacking the F-35 stealth fighter and its "out of control" costs.     

Turkey expects to take delivery of the first two of a batch of 24 more Lockheed Martin  F-35 aircraft in 2018, Defense Minister Fikri Işık said on Nov. 17. 

Turkey expects to take delivery of the first two of a batch of 24 more Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft in 2018, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday.

Isik said Turkey would buy a total of 24 F-35s over the next three years, of which six, including the two expected in 2018, had already been ordered.

[Reuters]

Ankara's recent decision to order 24 Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft has brought to the fore a discussion that has been taking place for some years within the Greek armed forces about how Greece can maintain its deterrent capabilities vis a vis Turkey without entering into an arms race with its neighbor.

Turkey expects to take delivery of its first Lockheed Martin Corp F-35A fighter jets in 2018 and has decided to order a second batch, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries said on Oct. 28.

The acquisition of nine surplus F-16 figher jets modernised by Portugal is an option, which Bulgaria is analysing as part of plans to replace its ageing fleet of Soviet-made MiG-29s, according to janes.com

Lockheed Martin Corp and the Pentagon missed their end-of-March target for reaching agreement on $15 billion in new F-35 fighter jets, but should complete work on the contracts in April, according to sources familiar with the matter.

"We're closer now than we were at the beginning of the month," said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Marillyn Hewson said Poland and Turkey were interested in the company's MEADS missile defense system, which has already been selected by Germany.