Lockheed CEO says company assumes 'flattening defense budget' -- regardless of election outcome

The chief executive of Lockheed Martin said today the company has been preparing for a flat defense budget even before the presidential election.

During a virtual conference hosted by Baird, Jim Taiclet said the company undertook a planning exercise to consider the various budget scenarios.

"We expect a flattening defense budget," he said. "In fact, we did pre-election -- no matter what party ends up maintaining the White House."

Ken Possenriede, Lockheed's chief financial officer, said during the same event the contractor, as part of its analysis, looked at defense budgets dating back to World War II.

He said Lockheed feels comfortable its $150 billion in backlog "will help us weather any storm that's coming."

Additionally, Possenriede said the "imminent threat like China and Russia out there" make today's scenario different than those of the past.

"On the whole, we feel pretty good with where we are," he added.

Meanwhile, Taiclet said the company continues to focus on military 5G. He said Lockheed is looking to build alliances with U.S. technology companies.

Military 5G would allow better latency -- meaning cutting the signaling time between transmittal and receipt, he said, while allowing for autonomy at scale.

Taiclet said this can be applied "directly to mission requirements" and said Lockheed is working with the Pentagon "at a senior level" about the benefits.