A Lockheed Martin aircraft made in Fort Worth is being lobbed by the person in charge of cutting national spending.
Billionaire Elon Musk, the gentleman behind Tesla and SpaceX, said Tuesday, Nov. 26, on X that the U. S. really pull the plug on the Lockheed-Martin’s F-35, made in Fort Worth.
” Some US weapons systems are great, albeit overpriced, but choose, in the name of all that is holy, let us cease the worst war value for money in history that is the F-35 program”! he wrote.
The comment was one of several criticisms Musk made of the fighter, which is expected to cost the federal government , more than$ 2 trillion over its life span, according to Defense News.
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Musk and fellow-billionnaire Vivek Ramaswamy to head up his new Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE (yes, like the crypto currency. ) They may pave the way for Trump’s presidency to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excessive laws, reduce wasteful expenses, and rebuild National Agencies”, Trump said in a statement.
Musk ultimately aims to cut$ 2 trillion in annual federal spending, but in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, he and Ramaswamy wrote that they plan to , start with cutting$ 500 billion  , in federal spending that is not authorized by Congress.
Musk shared a video on Sunday, Nov. 24 that appears to show a huge group of drones , made by China, captioning the article,” However, some stupid are also building guarded fighter planes like the F-35″.
In another article on Monday, Nov. 25 Musk wrote:” The F-35 style was broken at the requirements stage, because it was required to be too many points to too many people. This made it an cheap &, difficult jack of all trades, master of none. The list of possible outcomes not contained success. In the absence of robots, guarded fighter jets are also in the past. Does just get aircraft killed”.
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program , supports more than 49, 000 direct and indirect jobs , in the Fort Worth area generates$ 9.4 billion in annual economic effects.
As a national specialist, the company’s F-35 “plays a critical function” in the Department of Defense’s “ability to satisfy current and future U. S. national security goals”, according to the U. S. Government Accountability Office.
However, the Air Force and Navy’s plans to use the jets less have led to increased manufacturing issues and cost increases. The F-35 , has never met their preparation goals , for the past six years, according to the U. S. Government Accountability Office.
Asked about Musk’s article in light of his expected role in Trump’s leadership, the firm said it is looking forward to working with the approaching president and Congress.
In a speech, Lockheed Martin stated that, as we did in his first word, we anticipate a productive relationship with President Trump, his staff, and the new Congress to advance our national security. ” The F-35 is the most innovative, survivable and related fighter aircraft in the world, a vital barrier and the basis of combined all-domain businesses”.
Coming U. S. Rep. Craig Goldman, a Republican from Fort Worth, said he will struggle for the progression and growth the F-35 system. He is taking over the city represented by Kay Granger, who is retiring.
Goldman claimed that he respects a lot of who Musk is and the improvements he’s made, but that they disagree on this. He praised Israel’s contribution to the conflict with Hamas by virtue of its “brilliance of what the F-35 and its functions have been allowed to do” for them. If he and the Israeli authorities spoke, Musk may change his mind, Goldman speculated.
” I’m going to fight like hell to make sure those cuts are n’t made”, Goldman said. ” All that still has to go through Congress”.
Sen. John Cornyn, Republican representing Texas nationwide, was never available for an interview on Nov. 26. Spokespersons for Rep. Marc Vesay, a Fort Worth Democrat, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican even representing Texas Statewide, did not immediately return requests for comment.
Additionally, requests for comment were no promptly returned by the Department of Defense.
___
© 2024 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
