Laura Loomer, a firebrand activist with deep ties to former President Donald Trump’s inner circle, has set her sights on Lockheed Martin, the defense giant behind the $2 trillion F-35 fighter jet program. In a blistering series of public statements last weekend, Loomer called the program a bloated, dysfunctional mess, accusing the company of prioritizing “woke” policies over delivering battle-ready aircraft. Her attacks, echoing long-standing criticisms of the jet’s skyrocketing costs and technical woes, have reignited debate over one of the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons systems.
The F-35, billed as the world’s most advanced stealth fighter, has been a lightning rod for scrutiny since its inception in the 1990s. Designed to serve the Air Force, Navy, and Marines with variants for different combat roles, the jet was meant to revolutionize air warfare. Instead, it’s been dogged by delays, software glitches, and maintenance headaches. A 2023 Pentagon report pegged the program’s lifetime cost at $2 trillion, covering development, production, and decades of upkeep for 2,456 jets. That’s enough to buy a fleet of private islands, and critics like Loomer aren’t letting it slide.
Loomer’s broadside, launched on April 26, zeroed in on specific failures. She pointed to issues like radar systems that don’t work reliably and a stealth coating that reportedly rusts, forcing costly repairs. These aren’t new gripes—government audits have flagged similar problems for years. A 2021 report from the Government Accountability Office noted the F-35’s radar and sensor systems faced persistent bugs, delaying full combat readiness. Another Pentagon assessment last year confirmed maintenance costs were ballooning, with jets grounded more often than they flew. Loomer’s charge that the Pentagon keeps accepting “incomplete” jets also tracks: as of 2024, hundreds of F-35s delivered to the military lacked full software upgrades, per official records.
Her “woke” jab at Lockheed Martin stirred the pot further. While she didn’t spell out what she meant, the term often gets slung at companies perceived as leaning into progressive social policies. Lockheed Martin, a titan in the defense world with $67 billion in revenue last year, has publicly touted diversity initiatives and environmental goals. A 2022 company report highlighted efforts to boost minority hiring and cut carbon emissions. Whether that’s “woke” or just corporate branding, Loomer’s rhetoric taps into a broader conservative push to challenge defense contractors’ priorities when taxpayer dollars are at stake.
Loomer’s not alone in her outrage. The F-35’s price tag and performance issues have drawn fire from lawmakers across the spectrum. In 2020, then-Senator Bernie Sanders called it a “boondoggle” during budget hearings. Even Trump, during his first term, blasted the program as “out of control” in 2016, vowing to slash costs. Yet the Pentagon keeps the contracts flowing. Lockheed Martin delivered 141 F-35s in 2024, with plans to ramp up production through 2030, according to company filings. The Defense Department, in its 2025 budget, requested $16.5 billion for the program, signaling no pause despite the gripes.
What makes Loomer’s attack stand out is her megaphone. A polarizing figure with a direct line to Trump’s base, she’s got a knack for turning policy fights into culture-war bonfires. Her call for accountability—she demanded Congress probe Lockheed Martin’s “betrayal” of taxpayers—landed like a Molotov cocktail in defense circles. Whether it’ll spark real change is another question. The F-35 program, entrenched in Pentagon planning and tied to thousands of jobs across 45 states, is a beast that’s hard to kill.
As of April 29, 2025, Lockheed Martin hasn’t responded publicly to Loomer’s salvo. The Pentagon, meanwhile, issued a statement last month defending the F-35 as “critical to national security,” citing its role in countering threats from China and Russia. The jets are already flying missions in Europe and the Pacific, with 980 delivered worldwide by year’s end. Still, only 55% of the fleet was mission-capable in 2024, per Pentagon data, well below the 70% target.