Trump Criticizes Global Supply Chain Model For F-35

President Donald Trump on May 14 criticized the international supply chain model adopted by his predecessors for the Lockheed Martin F-35, saying the decision to globalize parts production for the stealth fighter is an example of “stupidity.”

“We make a fighter jet. I won’t tell you which, but it happens to be the F-35, OK? It’s a great jet. And we make parts all over the world. We make them in Turkey. We make them here. We make them there. All because President Obama and others—I’m not just blaming him—thought it was a wonderful thing,” Trump said in a televised interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo. 

“The problem is if we have a problem with a country, we can’t make the jet,” Trump said. “We get parts from all over the place. It’s so crazy. We should make everything in the United States.”

Bartiromo asked Trump in reply if his administration would bring such work back to the U.S.

“Yeah, we’re doing it because I’m changing all those policies,” Trump said.

Trump’s criticism comes as the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) continues to grapple with parts shortages caused by the decision last summer to expel Turkey’s industry and air force from the program. Turkey’s acceptance of S-400 air defense batteries from Russia in defiance of U.S. and NATO concerns prompted the removal.

About 1,005 parts originally assigned to Turkish companies are now sourced from U.S. suppliers, according to a report released May 12 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Of those, 15 parts are continuing to be manufactured in Turkey because U.S. suppliers are not yet prepared to deliver them at current production rates, the report says. As a result, Turkish suppliers will continue delivering some parts for the F-35 until the end of 2022, GAO says.

The JPO adopted a strategy to globalize the supply chain for the F-35 during the second term of President Bill Clinton. The administration of President George W. Bush then implemented the strategy after the JPO awarded the development contract to Lockheed in 2001. Eight countries outside the U.S. signed up to participate in the development program in 2002 and 2003, pledging to contribute $4 billion in total to support development. The Barack Obama administration inherited the nine-nation F-35 development program upon entering office in 2009.