Here's a
Shocker: 54% of Americans Want to See This Fighter Jet Program Scrapped
Vox populi,
vox Dei -- and the populi really don't like this aircraft.
Rich Smith
(TMFDitty)
Apr 15, 2017
at 10:13AM
In March,
President Donald Trump proposed increasing the U.S. defense budget by $54 billion. Trump
wants America to build more aircraft carriers, more nuclear submarines, more
nuclear missiles, and... more of Lockheed Martin's (NYSE:LMT) famed
F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, a weapon that he now calls "the fantastic new F-35 jet fighter."
But here's a
bit of shocking news for America's populist president: In a poll conducted last year by Voice of the People
(VOP), a majority of Americans opted to send the fantastic new F-35 fighter jet
to the junkyard.
The poll
VOP conducted
its poll online between Dec. 20, 2015, and Feb. 1, 2016.
Surveying 7,126 registered voters who belong to its "Citizen
Cabinet" advisory panel, in eight states scattered across the nation, VOP
posed a series of questions concerning the U.S. defense budget.
Among other
revelations, VOP's poll showed that Americans generally favor cutting defense
spending on the Air Force (by $2 billion annually), the Army ($4 billion), Navy
($2 billion), nuclear weapons ($3 billion), and missile defense ($1 billion).
Perhaps the most surprising revelation from the poll, though, was the
sentiment among voters for what is now President Trump's new favorite
military jet.
Of those
polled, 54% wanted to end production of the F-35.
The
details
That's right.
By a vote of 54% in favor to 43% opposed, a majority of those polled
"endorsed cancelling the F‐35 Joint Strike Fighter Program and
instead upgrading current fighters" such as Boeing's F-15
and (luckily for Lockheed) Lockheed Martin's own F-16. When told that upgrading
old planes versus buying newer F-35s would save as much as $97 billion in
defense dollars over the next 20 years, voters overwhelmingly voted with their
wallets -- to kill the F-35.
Anti-F-35
sentiment was widespread, too. Voters in eight states were surveyed, and in all
eight states, majorities favored killing the F-35. Even in Texas, where the
F-35 is built in Fort Worth, a 51% majority agreed that the F-35 should go
away.
Why the
death sentence?
Actually,
maybe that's not so surprising, given the negative press Lockheed's F-35 program
has endured. In querying voters regarding their feelings on the F-35, VOP
pointed out, "Some say the F-35... has many design
problems, and is way over budget already,
with more overruns likely."
That's
stating it kindly.
As initially
envisioned, Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet was supposed to achieve
"initial operational capability" (IOC) and be ready for at least
limited use in combat by 2010. In fact, by 2015, only one variant of the F-35
(the F-35B, destined for the Marine Corps) had reached IOC. The Air Force
anointed its own F-35A variant with IOC status in 2016. And the Navy's
F-35C variant... still isn't there yet. Viewed most charitably, the F-35
program is at least five years behind schedule -- and arguably
as much as seven years late.
Price-wise,
the F-35 produced was originally predicted to cost about $35 million per plane
in 1994 dollars ($57.5 million today). But even after Lockheed's latest round
of price reductions, the average F-35 still costs taxpayers more than $113 million -- 197% of its budgeted cost.
And as for
the "design problems," well, VOP's poll was conducted more than a
full year ago. Since then, the Pentagon's Directorate of Operational Test and
Evaluation (DOT&E) has released an updated report on the airplane's
progress. It details a list of 276 "critical" deficiencies with the
F-35, concluding that by and large, the F-35 is "overall
ineffective." Were the same VOP survey conducted today, it's possible that
even more Americans would vote to kill the F-35.
What it
means for investors
So what is
the upshot of all the above? President Trump wants to spend a lot more money on
defense this year (and in future years) than President Obama spent last year.
Lockheed Martin shareholders were understandably enthused to learn of the new
president's desire to spend more on defense in general, and of his kind words
for the F-35 in particular. But don't count your warbirds before the eggs are
hatched.
Much of the
extra money Trump wants to dump into defense is earmarked for an airplane that
enjoys little support among voters -- and taxpayers. This could make the
increase in defense spending a hard sell.
And increased
purchases of F-35 fighter jets are still not a foregone conclusion.
Rich Smith has
no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of
the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Original post: fool.com
Related post:
F-35
Lightning: Details
F/A-18E/F
& Block III: Details
F-15E
‘Strike’ Eagle & Advanced F-15 (2040c): Details
No comments:
Post a Comment