Lockheed partner BAE System’s CEO comes out and says POTUS Donnie really gets no credit for price reduction on the F-35 contract because it was already negotiated down after weeks of talks prior to him taking office and getting involved. He only gets credit for putting a time stamp on the talks to speed them up – PB/TK
F-35 Partner Disputes Trump’s Claim of Securing Big Savings
by Benjamin D Katz
President Donald Trump’s assertion that he is saving the Pentagon a fortune on its next generation fighter jet, the F-35, is being disputed again — this time, by one of the partners in the program.
The lower price on the $8.2 billion contract is due to cost reductions achieved through a long-planned increase in production, BAE Systems Plc Chief Executive Officer Ian King told analysts after releasing the company’s full-year earnings Thursday.
King’s assessment came about three weeks after the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee said the $728 million in savings would have happened anyway, even as Trump said his personal intervention cut the burden on taxpayers. Savings on the order for 90 of the Lockheed Martin Corp. combat jets exceeded the $600 million that Trump initially said he had achieved.
“In terms of the projected prices, they were all to do with the ramp-up in rates and were well-advertised,” King said on the conference call. “But if somebody wants to take credit for that finalization, negotiation, then they can take credit for that negotiation if they wish.”
Continue to Bloomberg.com article: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-02-24/f-35-partner-disputes-trump-s-claims-that-he-secured-big-savings
