- Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Loomer suggested Lockheed Martin is delivering F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters that “are simply not ready for combat”
By: India Weekly
DONALD TRUMP ally Laura Loomer has criticized Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program, calling it “woke, dysfunctional, and an enormous waste of taxpayer dollars.”
In a lengthy post on X over on Saturday, Loomer suggested Lockheed Martin is delivering F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters that “are simply not ready for combat.”
“The F-35 program, one of the most expensive weapons programs in history, is plagued by delays, defects, & downright incompetence,” she wrote.
She claimed that the US Air Force is accepting jets that lack “functional” radar systems, without offering evidence.
She also accused the Lockheed of “pushing a woke agenda”, though after Trump returned to power Lockheed scrapped its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in January.
Elon Musk too has been critical of and repeatedly calling the F-35s “obsolete” and “expensive” in the era of drones.
On earlier occasions as well, Musk has called the F-35 program the “worst military value for money in history”.
His views have garnered attention, particularly since he was appointed to advise the US government on optimizing federal spending.
The $2 trillion F-35 program is an appealing target for activists and officials seeking to slash government spending, and it has a well-documented list of problems.
The Pentagon’s top weapons tester said earlier this year that the program had problems delivering functional software and had fallen behind schedule to test upgraded mission systems.
Interestingly, the Trump administration is also trying sell more defense equipment to India, and that includes F-35 fighter jets.
