U.S. President-elect Donald Trump met with Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg Tuesday at Trump Tower in New York City to discuss the company’s F-18 Super Hornet fighter jet — a possible competitor for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter jet, which has overrun its production times and costs — and to discuss a replacement fleet for Air Force One.
“We discussed Air Force One, we discussed fighter aircraft,” Muilenburg told reporters at a quick briefing following his one-hour meeting with Mr. Trump.
“We made some great progress on simplifying requirements on Air Force One, streamlining the process – all that is going to provide a better airplane at a lower cost.” Mr. Trump had scrapped the original replacement plans for Air Force One, saying the price was simply “too high.”
Muilenberg revealed no further details about the discussion over the military aircraft. Israel received delivery of its first two F-35 stealth fighter jets — named the “Adir” in Hebrew — this past month, with more expected to arrive this year. By the end of the next decade, Israel is expected to receive a total of 50 of the aircraft. But a Pentagon report released this month revealed the aircraft has yet to be fully “bug free” and has more than 200 technical issues that still must be addressed.