WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A decision by Canada or any
other country to skip orders of 65 Lockheed Martin Corp (N:LMT) LMT.N
F-35 fighter jets would add about $1 million to the cost of each
plane purchased by the U.S. military or other partners, the head
of the F-35 program said on Wednesday.
Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan told lawmakers he
was speaking in general terms since it would be inappropriate to
comment on the impact of the election of Justin Trudeau as
Canada's prime minister. Trudeau had said that if elected his
government would not proceed with the program.
Bogdan said withdrawal from the program by Canada, one of
the nine countries that helped fund the plane's development,
would also raise the cost of a follow-on development program for
the other partners, since Canada was currently slated to cover
about 2 percent of that cost.
Canada had initially planned to buy 65 jets to replace its
aging CF-18s, which were built by Boeing (N:BA) Co BA.N .