Trump again meeting with Lockheed CEO

President-elect Donald Trump will meet today in New York with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson to discuss the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, according to Trump's transition team.

Trump first met with Hewson Dec. 22 to discuss the F-35, which he has criticized on Twitter and in speeches for being “out of control” and too costly.

After his first meeting with Hewson, Trump announced plans to shakeup the program via Twitter: "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!"

On Wednesday, Trump again brought up the F-35 in a press conference, hinting that he planned to introduce “competition” into the program through Boeing's F-18.

"We're gonna do some big things on the F-35 program and perhaps the F-18 program," he said. "We're going to get those costs way down and we're going to get the plane to be even better and we're going to have some competition and it's gonna be a beautiful thing."

Trump's assertion that the F-18 could possibly compete against the F-35 has raised questions, among them how the aging F-18 could compare to a next-generation stealth aircraft. The F-18 also has no vertical lift capability, which the Marine Corps F-35B does have.

In terms of cost, the Congressional Budget Office has outlined plans that would save $29 billion by canceling the additional purchase of F-35s in fiscal year 2018, providing instead a strategy to purchase upgraded F-16s and F-18s over the next decade.

Meanwhile, defense secretary nominee and retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that Trump, though he has been critical of the F-35, seeks only to lower its costs, not derail it.

Separately, Trump has vowed to impose a “lifetime ban” on Pentagon acquisition officials involved in the F-35 contract from subsequently working in the defense industry.