Lockheed to add robots to F-35 line

FORT WORTH, Texas - President Donald Trump wants to lower the cost of the F-35, but he has also pledged to increase manufacturing jobs in the United States. Are those two goals compatible?

In an interview on CNBC Wednesday, a Lockheed Martin executive said the company is boosting the use of robotics at its Fort Worth aeronautics complex that produces the fighter jet in an effort to drive down the cost of the expensive weapons system.

'We want an $80 million jet. We have to take labor out of the aircraft build process and we have to make that process more efficient without any reduction in quality,” said Janet Nash, Lockheed's vice president of F-35 production.

To do that, Nash said Lockheed is turning to technological advances such as robotics, including automation that applies paint to help make the airplane stealthy. That has reportedly shaved two days off the work process.

Lockheed came under fire from Trump late last year, who tweeted following the election that the cost of the fighter jet program was 'out of control.”

After subsequent meetings with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, Trump declared that a new contract would trim more than $600 million from the plane's cost and the program was now 'in great shape.”

Lockheed subsequently said the new contract for 90 more F-35s would reduce costs by $728 million and lead to 1,800 more jobs in Fort Worth.

Lockheed employs about 14,000 workers in west Fort Worth, including 8,800 working who work on the F-35 program. The new workers are expected to be hired through 2020 as production of the fighter jet increases.

Lockheed has been in midst of a $1.2 billion renovation and expansion of the Fort Worth plant to prepare for increased production of the F-35.