# Donald Trump Blasts F-35 Fighter Jet Program Cost As 'Out Of Control'



## The_Showstopper

*Donald Trump Blasts F-35 Fighter Jet Program Cost As 'Out Of Control'*
World | Agence France-Presse | Updated: December 12, 2016 19:59 IST




*COMMENTS*







Donald Trump said the cost of F-35 stealth fighter jet is "out of control."

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES: President-elect Donald Trump on Monday blasted the F-35 stealth fighter, saying the cost is too high for the aircraft, said to be the most expensive military weapon systems in history.

"The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th," Trump said on Twitter, as Defense Secretary Ash Carter was in Israel to celebrate delivery of the country's first two of the Lockheed Martin fighters.


The US aerospace company has a $1.5 trillion contract through 2070 for the latest generation of the fighter jets, at a cost of about $100 million each.


The US Air Force declared the fighter "battle ready," in August, after reports of cost overruns and delays.

Lockeed Martin stock was down 2.5 percent in pre-market trading.

Trump has frequently turned to Twitter to vent his outrage from anything from critiques of Saturday Night Live, a weekly comedy-variety television show, to attacking Boeing for the cost of designing a new version of Air Force One, the presidential plane.





http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/dona...t-of-control-1637083?pfrom=home-lateststories


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## Jugger

He is giving all these statements to short the shares of boeing and Lockeed Martin
Once a businessman always a businessman.
As you see the shares come down almost immediately after his statement.


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## AZADPAKISTAN2009

Smart man


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## PK_Patriot

Personally I think till 2040 US doesn't need any 5+ Generation planes. F-22 updates and smart technology can keep US biggest military power of world.


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## Hassan Guy

We should get some F-35's.


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## Ultima Thule

Hassan Guy said:


> We should get some F-35's.
> View attachment 359825


Why you fall in love with F-35, there are no chance to get F-35 in near future, ask senior members of PDF like @Oscar, @Bilal Khan 777, @Bilal Khan (Quwa), @war& peace,@waz, @Zarvan and others saying this that we can't get F-35 and where are those


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## maximuswarrior

pakistanipower said:


> Why you fall in love with F-35, there are no chance to get F-35 in near future, ask senior members of PDF like @Oscar, @Bilal Khan 777, @Bilal Khan (Quwa), @war& peace,@waz, @Zarvan and others saying this that we can't get F-35 and where are those
> View attachment 359843



Near future? Pakistan isn't getting them even in the distant future. First, they are too expensive. Second, Uncle Sam has problems giving F-16s to us. Let's not even get into the F-35 debate. The relationship between the US and Pakistan isn't conducive for a whole host of reasons. *Pakistan is not going to be a future buyer of US hardware.*

Our next 5th gen fighter is most likely the J-31. We might end up refining this fighter with China as per our requirements.

Coming back to the topic itself, just to put things into perspective. The most advanced US fighter F-22 has a significantly lower fly away and total production cost as compared to the lesser F-35. That should tell you something.


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## Ultima Thule

maximuswarrior said:


> Near future? Pakistan isn't getting them even in the distant future. First, they are too expensive. Second, Uncle Sam has problems giving F-16s to us. Let's not even get into the F-35 debate. The relationship between the US and Pakistan isn't conducive for a whole host of reasons. *Pakistan is not going to be a future buyer of US hardware.*
> 
> Our next 5th gen fighter is most likely the J-31. We might end up refining this fighter with China as per our requirements.
> 
> Coming back to the topic itself, just to put things into perspective. The most advanced US fighter F-22 has a significantly lower fly away and total production cost as compared to the lesser F-35. That should tell you something.


Tell this to @Hassan Guy he is blindly believe that Pakistan should get F-35 from US its technically and politically impossible to get F-35

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## LeGenD

maximuswarrior said:


> Coming back to the topic itself, just to put things into perspective. The most advanced US fighter F-22 has a significantly lower fly away and total production cost as compared to the lesser F-35. That should tell you something.


F-35 is a far bigger project than F-22 and make no mistake! F-35 is more advanced than any fighter aircraft out there. The true capabilities of F-35 will become apparent with passage of time.

F-35 project constitutes 3 distinct aircraft designs. This is huge.

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## Logicaldude

LeGenD said:


> F-35 is a far bigger project than F-22 and make no mistake! F-35 is more advanced than any fighter aircraft out there. The true capabilities of F-35 will become apparent with passage of time.
> 
> F-35 project constitutes 3 distinct aircraft designs. This is huge.



Well said. No idea who is spreading this lie about the F22 being more advanced. Not just the passage of time and the tech evolution, the scope of the program itself is massively bigger and more abmotious than F22.

I think the F22 looks cooler, that may be it lol!


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## Hassan Guy

maximuswarrior said:


> Near future? Pakistan isn't getting them even in the distant future. First, they are too expensive. Second, Uncle Sam has problems giving F-16s to us. Let's not even get into the F-35 debate. The relationship between the US and Pakistan isn't conducive for a whole host of reasons. *Pakistan is not going to be a future buyer of US hardware.*
> 
> Our next 5th gen fighter is most likely the J-31. We might end up refining this fighter with China as per our requirements.
> 
> Coming back to the topic itself, just to put things into perspective. The most advanced US fighter F-22 has a significantly lower fly away and total production cost as compared to the lesser F-35. That should tell you something.


Not true man.


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## Beast

pakistanipower said:


> Tell this to @Hassan Guy he is blindly believe that Pakistan should get F-35 from US its technically and politically impossible to get F-35


There are lots of delusion overseas Pakistanis who think Pakistan future lies closely with west. Despite US drone continue violate pakistan airspace and killed innocent Pakistanis. The west also continue sanction against Pakistan as they wished and trying to force Pakistan into their submission. The west continue acting like colonial master. Those overseas Pakistanis living in the west too long to be feed with constant propaganda abt how Pakistan can only survive by the west despite the west has never truly help Pakistan economy and military.

The Hassan Guy is exactly the product of those west.

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## maximuswarrior

Hassan Guy said:


> Not true man.



Okay, than first convince the Americans to release the F16s.


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## maximuswarrior

Beast said:


> There are lots of delusion overseas Pakistanis who think Pakistan future lies closely with west. Despite US drone continue violate pakistan airspace and killed innocent Pakistanis. The west also continue sanction against Pakistan as they wished and trying to force Pakistan into their submission. The west continue acting like colonial master. Those overseas Pakistanis living in the west too long to be feed with constant propaganda abt how Pakistan can only survive by the west despite the west has never truly help Pakistan economy and military.
> 
> The Hassan Guy is exactly the product of those west.



Don't worry bro. We know who our friends are and where our future lies. We are not going to be begging for military and economic aid, but we are going to become self-sufficient in every way possible. China, our dear ally is teaching us how to catch fish. Our relationship will grow beyond oceans and mountains. Not a shred of doubt about it.



LeGenD said:


> F-35 is a far bigger project than F-22 and make no mistake! F-35 is more advanced than any fighter aircraft out there. The true capabilities of F-35 will become apparent with passage of time.
> 
> F-35 project constitutes 3 distinct aircraft designs. This is huge.



*It won't never ever surpass the F-22.* You can be rest assured about that.

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## Desertfalcon

Some posts here seem to suggest that the F-35 is still an uncertain thing. There are already more F-35's that have been built than F-22's. They are already flying in active service in the USAF. Hundreds more of them have already been ordered around the world, and nothing is going to replace it.

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## maximuswarrior

Desertfalcon said:


> Some posts here seem to suggest that the F-35 is still an uncertain thing.  There are already more F-35's that have been built than F-22's. They are already flying in active service in the USAF. Hundreds more of them have already been ordered around the world, and nothing is going to replace it.



That still doesn't say anything about its capability versus the F-22. We know how premium the F-22 is. The F-35 is a downgraded version of F-22 in all its Blocks and variants. Nothing will replace or overshadow the F-22. Not the F-35 or anything else.

The F-35 is more than a fighter. It is primarily a political tool.


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## rcrmj

Logicaldude said:


> Well said. No idea who is spreading this lie about the F22 being more advanced. Not just the passage of time and the tech evolution, the scope of the program itself is massively bigger and more abmotious than F22.
> 
> I think the F22 looks cooler, that may be it lol!


you have zero clue of what you are talking about mate, this post just demonstrated your sheer ignorance of how a fighter came to realization from the initial requirements by the user``every weapon system is designed to meet *the requirement* and plays its duty in the whole defense system```its not about a computer game, that one kit can destroy all```

F-22 and F-35 comes with different roles in the army, how can you to draw a line to define who is more 'advanced' and who can be it all ```? they are all 4th gen stealth fighter kid

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## Hassan Guy

maximuswarrior said:


> Okay, than first convince the Americans to release the F16s.


Good place to start:







Beast said:


> There are lots of delusion overseas Pakistanis who think Pakistan future lies closely with west. Despite US drone continue violate pakistan airspace and killed innocent Pakistanis. The west also continue sanction against Pakistan as they wished and trying to force Pakistan into their submission. The west continue acting like colonial master. Those overseas Pakistanis living in the west too long to be feed with constant propaganda abt how Pakistan can only survive by the west despite the west has never truly help Pakistan economy and military.
> 
> The Hassan Guy is exactly the product of those west.


All I said is we should buy the F-35 lmao

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## Desertfalcon

maximuswarrior said:


> That still doesn't say anything about its capability versus the F-22. We know how premium the F-22 is. The F-35 is a downgraded version of F-22 in all its Blocks and variants. Nothing will replace or overshadow the F-22. Not the F-35 or anything else.



I don't think you understand that the F-22 & F-35 were designed and built for very different missions.

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## rcrmj

Hassan Guy said:


> Good place to start:
> View attachment 359995
> 
> 
> 
> All I said is we should buy the F-35 lmao


money doesnt buy everything, your wishful thinking is based on pipe smoke, not reality

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## Beast

Hassan Guy said:


> Good place to start:
> View attachment 359995
> 
> 
> 
> All I said is we should buy the F-35 lmao


That's make your reply more absurd. Don't talk nonsense.


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## Hassan Guy

Beast said:


> That's make your reply more absurd. Don't talk nonsense.


F-35 is a good plane, look at the list of all the countries who have bought them.



rcrmj said:


> money doesnt buy everything, your wishful thinking is based on pipe smoke, not reality


It sort of does, thats why the US and UK rejected the arms ban on Saudi Arabia.


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## gambit

Desertfalcon said:


> I don't think you understand that the F-22 & F-35 were designed and built for very different missions.


He does not care, plus the technical details would go 'whooosh' over his head anyway. His mission in life is to make the US as bad looking as possible. He does not have the brains to do anything else.

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## Ultima Thule

Hassan Guy said:


> Good place to start:
> View attachment 359995
> 
> 
> 
> All I said is we should buy the F-35 lmao


Than tell us *How*? why you are repeating same * BULLSH!T* again and again, i am reporting for your* INSANE*,* ILLOGICAL* and* BASELESS* posts


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## Beast

Hassan Guy said:


> Good place





Hassan Guy said:


> F-35 is a good plane, look at the list of all the countries who have bought them.
> 
> 
> It sort of does, thats why the US and UK rejected the arms ban on Saudi Arabia.



Your view is too surface. Most countries who bought F-35 are US allies. Do you think they have much choice? Those countries who joined F-35 programs behave just like you based on perception. That it's build by US and the hype, so it must be good. Without actually seeing the final product.


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## Hassan Guy

pakistanipower said:


> Than tell us *How*? why you are repeating same * BULLSH!T* again and again, i am reporting for your* INSANE*,* ILLOGICAL* and* BASELESS* posts


In a few years time we should hopefully have 3-6 billion to spend on some fighter jets. If thats too much we could try and lease them.



Beast said:


> Your view is too surface. Most countries who bought F-35 are US allies. Do you think they have much choice? Those countries who joined F-35 programs behave just like you based on perception. That it's build by US and the hype, so it must be good. Without actually seeing the final product.


The F-35 is probably the most advanced multi-role fighter today.


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## gambit

Beast said:


> Your view is too surface. Most countries who bought F-35 are US allies. *Do you think they have much choice?* Those countries who joined F-35 programs behave just like you based on perception. That it's build by US and the hype, so it must be good. Without actually seeing the final product.


Yes, they do. They can buy nothing especially they did not see the final product, as you stated. Leave their air forces as is. The US did not force them into the program.

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## Ultima Thule

Hassan Guy said:


> In a few years time we should hopefully have 3-6 billion to spend on some fighter jets. If thats too much we could try and lease them.
> 
> 
> The F-35 is probably the most advanced multi-role fighter today.


You know about the future in that time most probably J-31 will be ready and inducted by PAF, it will be safer deal than F-35 now kid you can continue your nonsense


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## Hassan Guy

pakistanipower said:


> You know about the future in that time most probably J-31 will be ready and inducted by PAF, it will be safer deal than F-35 now kid you can continue your nonsense


But you can acknowledge - that option isn't a guarantee.


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## Logicaldude

rcrmj said:


> you have zero clue of what you are talking about mate, this post just demonstrated your sheer ignorance of how a fighter came to realization from the initial requirements by the user``every weapon system is designed to meet *the requirement* and plays its duty in the whole defense system```its not about a computer game, that one kit can destroy all```
> 
> F-22 and F-35 comes with different roles in the army, how can you to draw a line to define who is more 'advanced' and who can be it all ```? they are all 4th gen stealth fighter kid



Are you trying to act smart? Some other dude said F22 was more advanced, not me. Looks like you just wanted to sound cool in front of your chini friends.


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## Ultima Thule

Hassan Guy said:


> But you can acknowledge - that option isn't a guarantee.


neither F-35 is a guarantee you stupid J-31 will be totally string free


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## Penguin

Beast said:


> Your view is too surface. Most countries who bought F-35 are US allies. Do you think they have much choice? Those countries who joined F-35 programs behave just like you based on perception. That it's build by US and the hype, so it must be good. Without actually seeing the final product.


The F-35 program wouldn't exist without foreign partners. So, logically, those foreign partners will use the F-35: they are heavily invested in it.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program is an Internationally oriented program consisting of partnerships with a number of countries. The programs cooperating partners:

Primary customer: United States 1,763 F-35A USAF, 340 F-35B USMC, 80 USMC + 260 USN F-35C planned
Level 1 partner: United Kingdom (signed 17 Jan 2001 for $2B) > 138 F-35B planned for CVs
Level 2 partner: Italy (signed 24 Jun 2002 for $1B) > 60 planned F-35A (7 ordered), 15+15 planned F35B for Airforce & Navy
Level 2 partner: Netherlands (signed 17 Jun 2002 for $800M) > 35 F-35A planned, of which 7 ordered
Level 3 partner: Turkey (signed 11 Jun 2002 for $175M) > 100 + up to 20 F-35A planned, possibly some F-35B for LHDs
Level 3 partner: Canada (signed 7 Feb 2002 for $150M) > F-35A
Level 3 partner: Australia (signed 31 Oct 2002 for $150M)> 72 F-35A ordered and up to 28 more planned, potential for F-35B for LHDs (not likely in near term). 
Level 3 partner: Denmark (signed 28 May 2002 for $125M) >27 F-35A planned
Level 3 partner: Norway (signed 20 Jun 2002 for $125M) > 52 F-35A planned, of which 4 ordered
Security Cooperative Participant: Israel (75 F-35A planned, of which 50 ordered)
Security Cooperative Participant: Singapore

Other customer: Japan (42 F-35A planned, of which 5 ordered, 38 to be built by Mitsubishi)
Other customer: Republic of Korea (South Korea), 40 F-35A planned


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## Hassan Guy

pakistanipower said:


> neither F-35 is a guarantee you stupid J-31 will be totally string free


F-35 will enter service with he worlds best Air Forces, can you say the same about the J-31?


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## DavidSling

Desertfalcon said:


> Some posts here seem to suggest that the F-35 is still an uncertain thing. There are already more F-35's that have been built than F-22's. They are already flying in active service in the USAF. Hundreds more of them have already been ordered around the world, and nothing is going to replace it.


As of today, flying in Israel Air Force too

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## -BAJWA-

pakistanipower said:


> neither F-35 is a guarantee you stupid J-31 will be totally string free


Trust me, this guy is giving you a tough and serious competition.


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## rcrmj

Logicaldude said:


> Are you trying to act smart? Some other dude said F22 was more advanced, not me. Looks like you just wanted to sound cool in front of your chini friends.


never understand you funny indian's brain, and never to expect an Indian to come up with an informed conclusion of complicated high tech issue````read my post carefully again funny Indian kid


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## Ultima Thule

Hassan Guy said:


> F-35 will enter service with he worlds best Air Forces, can you say the same about the J-31?


F-35 world best or not, its different matters,* if we ask US to buy F-35 and US would deny, same as F-16 in late 80's than what should we do* and F-35 is 90's project whereas J-31 21's century project, J-31is lot more suitable for Pakistan than F-35



-BAJWA- said:


> Trust me, this guy is giving you a tough and serious competition.


*serious he is totally spreading nonsense *


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## -BAJWA-

pakistanipower said:


> *serious he is totally spreading nonsense *



He made you hit the head to wall.


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## Ultima Thule

-BAJWA- said:


> He made you hit the head to wall.


I am correcting him, he lives in fairy-tales


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## -BAJWA-

pakistanipower said:


> I am correcting him, he lives in fairy-tales


He is like; " oye trump chotay, ai zra 3 squadron f-35 de pack kren, naal 40 jhmcs v rkh dyen, pesay likh le, pehli trekh nu hisab clear kr dwan ge"

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## Hassan Guy

pakistanipower said:


> I am correcting him, he lives in fairy-tales


LMAO, you cannot compare the J-31 and F-35 at all.


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## Ultima Thule

Hassan Guy said:


> LMAO, you cannot compare the J-31 and F-35 at all.


you know what technology used in J-31,?F-35 is 90's project, where is J-31 21th century project and *if we ask US to buy F-35 and US would deny, same as F-16 in late 80's than what should we do?* answer my this question


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## Hassan Guy

pakistanipower said:


> you know what technology used in J-31,?F-35 is 90's project, where is J-31 21th century project and *if we ask US to buy F-35 and US would deny, same as F-16 in late 80's than what should we do?* answer my this question


They sanctioned us then because of our nuclear program


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## Ultima Thule

Hassan Guy said:


> They sanctioned us then because of our nuclear program


*If we want to buy F-35 and they deny what should we do*? Please answer for my this query



Hassan Guy said:


> LMAO, you cannot compare the J-31 and F-35 at all.


Please answer for my this query *If we want to buy F-35 and they deny what should we do? *@Hassan Guy where are you?, is you answer-less


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## Hassan Guy

pakistanipower said:


> *If we want to buy F-35 and they deny what should we do*? Please answer for my this query
> 
> 
> Please answer for my this query *If we want to buy F-35 and they deny what should we do? *@Hassan Guy where are you?, is you answer-less


Well shit, then we better renegotiate.

But wait lemme ask your dumbass, what do we do if the J-31 never enters serial production or the project is cancelled?


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## Ultima Thule

Hassan Guy said:


> Well shit, then we better renegotiate.
> 
> But wait lemme ask your dumbass, what do we do if the J-31 never enters serial production or the project is cancelled?


you live in your shit land, there is no chance to get F-35, US tilting in the Favor of india, and Indian Navy considering F-35 also and get lost from hare with your shitty posts, *DENY *and *RENEGOTIATE* what a fool you are kid  why you are asuuming that J-31 will not enter production or cancelled just in your shitty thought


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## Hassan Guy

pakistanipower said:


> you live in your shit land, there is no chance to get F-35, US tilting in the Favor of india, and Indian Navy considering F-35 also and get lost from hare with your shitty posts, *DENY *and *RENEGOTIATE* what a fool you are kid  why you are asuuming that J-31 will not enter production or cancelled just in your shitty thought


I don't understand half of your posts because of your shitty grammar but I can address the last point, The J-31 has no government funding or orders from the PRC.


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## Ultima Thule

Hassan Guy said:


> I don't understand half of your posts because of your shitty grammar but I can address the last point, The J-31 has no government funding or orders from the PRC.


you didn't accept the fact that *"we can't get F-35 at all" "US is titling in favor of india" *go live in your shit land this my last post you *brain fart*


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## Hassan Guy

pakistanipower said:


> you didn't accept the fact that *"we can't get F-35 at all" "US is titling in favor of india" *go live in your shit land this my last post you *brain fart*


lol K.


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## Akasa

Hassan Guy said:


> Well shit, then we better renegotiate.
> 
> But wait lemme ask your dumbass, what do we do if the J-31 never enters serial production or the project is cancelled?



The J-31 won't enter serial production unless a customer (Chinese or otherwise) agrees to purchase it and pay for a portion of the developmental costs. The advantage is that the customer would now have a say in the sales & export of the aircraft and also reap the benefits of any further aircraft exports (think of the JF-17).


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## Nilgiri

From a discussion I had with a good friend of mine on the topic:

Trump is a businessman. He understands things like depreciation and life-cycle costings. He's quite intelligent and hides it underneath his exterior bluster. In fact, its a vital part of his business strategy. He goes into a room with everybody underestimating him and says outrageous things hiding the fact that he has a very shrewd understanding of the real issues. Then, when the other side has committed themselves, he hits them with an unsuspectingly thorough understanding of the issues.

So lets make a guess at the real issues as Trump sees them.

1) The US Armed forces are too small and defense funding cuts have decreased their size and power to an unacceptable level

2) The US armed forces have an inventory of equipment that is aging and has been worked very had for the last decade and a half

3) As a result of poor business practices. US procurement is all screwed up and nobody will fix it because too many people have an interest (financial or otherwise) in ensuring it stays screwed up.

Probably a lot more but those three will do for a start.

Now, the great danger in dealing with problem one is that "increasing the force structure" is achieved by running on old equipment. This is an all-pervasive idea that always ends in tears. Old equipment costs a disproportionate amount of money to maintain and all it does is drain the budget of funds for new equipment.

FWIW, anyone who has crewed an old ship knows the effort required to meet our commitments means continuously driving the kids much too hard, actually wearing out the senior sailors and looses us a lot of the mid grade Officers and enlisted the fleet so desperately needs. It is like being forced to eat your seed corn.

So, the effect of solving this problem that way is to make Problem 2 very much worse.

Now, lets look at some present cost top-of-the-line numbers. (These are all FY17 and calculated on the same basis). All of these aircraft are in production.

F-18E/F is $77.3 million
F-15S is $100 million
F-16E is $43 million
F-35A is $76.8 million
F-35B is $105 million
F-35C is $89.1 million

There is no obvious financial gain by going to an F-18 for an Air Force procurement in its present form but there is a production bonus. It would add a second production line for modern fighter aircraft and it would allow the replacement of some of the oldest aircraft in the fleet.

At this point, memories of the A-7 started to surface. Continuing the F-18 production line would also make additional F-18s available to the Navy as a way of helping fill up the holes in the carrier air wings. It may actually be a pretty smart way of getting more modern aircraft into the inventory, replacing the old aircraft and reducing inventory maintenance costs. It may not turn out to be practical but its an idea worth exploring.

As a side thought, its an interesting idea replacing the A-10 fleet with "A-18"s.

As for Problem 2 this is addressed by the above solution. Get the old, worn-out aircraft to the scrap-heap where they belong and replace them with new aircraft. In that sense the apparent unit cost of the new aircraft can be partially recovered by getting rid of old, costly-to-maintain aircraft.

Behind this all is Problem 3 where Trump has definitely looked at the procurement system and cringed. The Air force One issue with Boeing was a shot across their bows. If it really caused distress and megrims at Boeing, excellent. It worked. Now we've seen a shot across Lockheed-Martin's bows with the hope of making them upset and confused. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we soon saw another salvo across OMB and DoDs bows soon.

@Desert Fox @Sarge

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## Farhan_Malik

Stupid people have no idea what will happen if a nuclear war breaks out.
If countries start using nuclear weapons, it will spell end to mankind. The end of the world.
You have absolutely no idea what nuclear radiations can do to human beings.
If you want to see the results of nuclear radiations, just google "Hiroshima Nagasaki radiations" and look at the images.
They are horrifying

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## Nilgiri

Farhan_Malik said:


> Stupid people have no idea what will happen if a nuclear war breaks out.
> If countries start using nuclear weapons, it will spell end to mankind. The end of the world.
> You have absolutely no idea what nuclear radiations can do to human beings.
> If you want to see the results of nuclear radiations, just google "Hiroshima Nagasaki radiations" and look at the images.
> They are horrifying



Welcome to the forum and very sobering, thoughtful first post!

Back on topic:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-defense-idUSKBN14C1QU

*Lockheed CEO tells Trump she will work to drive down cost of F-35*


n" style="transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);">The chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp told President-elect Donald Trump on Friday that she was committed to driving down the cost of the company's F-35 fighter jet, a day after Trump took aim at the cost of the F-35 in a Twitter post.

CEO Marillyn Hewson said she spoke with Trump on Friday afternoon and assured him that she had heard his message "loud and clear" about reducing the cost of the F-35.

Trump, in a tweet posted late on Thursday, suggested that an older aircraft made by rival aerospace company Boeing Co could offer a cheaper alternative to the F-35.

"Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!" Trump said.

Hewson, in a statement posted on Twitter, said she had had "a very good conversation" with Trump on Friday.

"I gave him my personal commitment to drive the cost down aggressively," she said in the statement.

Lockheed shares closed down 1.3 percent on Friday, nearing their lowest levels since the Nov. 8 election. They were the biggest drag on a basket of defense-related stocks. Boeing's stock ended near the unchanged mark.

Trump had met with the chief executives of both Lockheed and Boeing on Wednesday.

Boeing's F-18 is an older generation aircraft that lacks the stealth capabilities of the F-35.

One U.S. official said it was impossible to tell what Trump meant by his tweet, given the importance of stealth technology as a way to counter advanced defenses of near-peer states, like Russia or China.

"Somebody needs to ask Donald Trump how he's going to be able to confront China without aircraft capable of penetrating anti-access and area denial systems, including air defenses," the official said.

Most defense analysts do not consider the two jets as comparable aircraft.

"Impractical if not irrational," Richard Safran, a defense analyst at Buckingham Research, said by email. "First, the F/A-18 is a carrier-based naval fighter. Certainly it could not meet the U.S. Marine Corps need for vertical lift. It would not be suitable for the Air Force either - the extra weight of a carrier fighter makes it less than ideal for the Air Force."

"Unless the rules of physics have changed, you cannot make a non-stealthy, two-engined, carrier-based aircraft from the 1980s into a single-engine, multi-role stealthy fighter from the 2000s," Vertical Research Partners analysts wrote in a note on Friday.

Still, Trump's dissatisfaction with the program, which has been dogged by problems while costs have escalated to an estimated $379 billion, is a clear risk for Lockheed. The F-35 program is a critical sales generator for the company, accounting for 20 percent of last year's total revenue of $46.1 billion.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher said on Thursday in an email that the company was committed to providing the capability and affordability to meet national security needs.

On Wednesday, Trump met the CEOs of Lockheed and Boeing at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told reporters there that he had guaranteed costs would not get out of control for a replacement to Air Force One, the presidential plane, another project Trump calls too expensive.

Trump told reporters he wanted to cut the F-35 program's costs.

Trump's jockeying for leverage via his Twitter account is likely to be a hurdle for all U.S. defense contractors, Roman Schweizer, aerospace and defense analyst at Cowen & Co, wrote in a client note on Thursday.

Trump unleashed his tirade about the hefty cost for U.S. aircraft earlier this month, first lashing out at Boeing over the cost of replacement Air Force One presidential planes and days later at Lockheed over the F-35.

Since Trump's first tweet about Air Force One on Dec. 6, Lockheed shares have slumped around 6.4 percent, costing its shareholders collectively about $5 billion in lost market value.

"We have no idea how this plays out but believe 'Twitter risk' for defense companies could be a significant issue over the next four years," Cowen's Schweizer wrote. "This is Lockheed Martin's time in the barrel."



(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Eric Beech in Washington, Joe White in Detroit, Jeffrey Dastin in Los Angeles, and Andrea Shalal in Berlin; Writing by Dan Burns; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)


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## CBU-105

Nilgiri said:


> Trump is a businessman. He understands things like depreciation and life-cycle costings. He's quite intelligent and hides it underneath his exterior bluster. In fact, its a vital part of his business strategy. He goes into a room with everybody underestimating him and says outrageous things hiding the fact that he has a very shrewd understanding of the real issues. Then, when the other side has committed themselves, he hits them with an unsuspectingly thorough understanding of the issues.


He sets the bar with those seemingly outrageous statements, it's a negotiation tactic to throw everyone off kilter, he'll then gauge their response and take it forward. That's exactly what he did with the muslim ban comment:

1.timed it perfectly (in the wake of the San Bernardino attack when emotions were running high, it was also months before the first vote was cast in the primaries)

2. gradually walked it back to something a bit more palatable and reasonable (extreme vetting/background checks)

This is also what he's been doing with the Russia/Putin sweet talk, now that he's in, the onus is almost entirely on Russia to reciprocate, ball's in their court now, and that they'll have to actually do something in the real world as opposed to Trump's _rhetoric,_ which was just words. Clever guy.

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