Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal reacted strongly Monday, hours after a tweet by President-elect Donald Trump that called costs for the F-35 fighter jet program "out of control."
Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney makes the engines for the F-35, which is manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
"The F-35 program and cost is out of control," Trump tweeted Monday morning. "Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th."
Shares of Lockheed Martin fell 5-percent in early trading after Trump issued the tweet.
The F-35 program made up 20 percent of Lockheed's total revenue last year.
Shares of Pratt & Whitney parent company United Technologies briefly fell Monday morning, but gained after a few hours of trading.
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"I will continue to fight for the the F-35 program that is essential to American air superiority, our NATO allies, Israel's common defense against Russia's robust air assets and missiles, and other potential threats to American security across the globe," Sen. Blumenthal said in a statement. "Reducing unnecessary costs is a welcome and important effort, but it cannot detract from our continued commitment to the Joint Strike Fighter, and the edge these jets provide our military that is so critical to our national defense and our alliances abroad."
This is the second time in a week that Trump has blasted U.S. aircraft spending. Last week, Trump tweeted that costs to build new presidential planes by Boeing Corp. were "out of control" and ended the tweet with "Cancel order!"
NBC Connecticut reached out to representatives from Pratt & Whitney and they declined to comment.
