​Lockheed Martin CEO has 'productive meeting' with Trump on F-35 costs

President-elect Donald Trump met with Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) CEO Marillyn Hewson Wednesday following a tweet from the president-elect last week blasting the “out of control” costs of the F-35 joint strike fighter program.

Hewson said in a statement that it was a “productive meeting."

“I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we’ve made in bringing the costs down,” the statement read. "The F-35 is a critical program to our national security, and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies.”

Between 2011 and 2015 Lockheed delivered 154 F-35s to several U.S. and international customers, with another 53 expected to be delivered this year.

To Lockheed’s credit, it has made efforts to bring down the cost of the jet. Since the company inked its first production contract, costs have come down 57 percent.

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