Trump is right to criticize F-35 costs (but he shouldn’t cancel it)

As the man who will be America’s next President, Trump’s tweets matter more than most. At the time of this writing, F-35 manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, has seen its stock lose 4% value. Those paper-losses represent billions of dollars.

Still, as with his tweet last week on Boeing’s new Air Force One, Trump has a point here. When it comes to the F-35, Lockheed Martin has lost the plot regarding budgeting. The program is $200 billion over budget and long overdue for completion.

It’s not just Trump who is upset. Take Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Back in April, McCain stated that the F-35 procurement “has been both a scandal and a tragedy with respect to cost, schedule and performance.’’ Democrats have echoed these criticisms.

They are right to do so.

The central issue here is that Americans are not getting value for their money. Instead, we are feeding an obese procurement system that is used to receiving political insulation. Long reliant on a bipartisan shield against budget scrutiny, defense contractors are used to gouging the taxpayer. Where mistakes are made in research and development, contractors only ask for more time. And where costs overrun, they just ask for more money. Negative consequences are very rare.