The US president-elect has shifted his focus away from the expensive Air Force One contract, to the much more expensive military Joint Strike Fighter Jet contract.
True to form, Donald Trump used fewer than 140 characters to panic an industry.
"The F-35 program and cost is out of control", he tweeted.
"Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th."
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The United States will spend about $400 billion for almost 2,500 jets, a contract 14 months in the making.
Australia is among 11 allied nations that have also committed to buying the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft, the ADF expecting a fleet of 72.
The average cost of each plane is estimated to be about $90 million, a deal too advanced for Australia to back out of.
Speaking in London, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne defended the government’s decision.
“We’re very confident that the Joint Strike Fighter is the right jet for Australia. And for the United States and the rest of the world.”
“Eventually there'll be 3,000 joint strike fighter jets operating in the world - it's the most potent weapon in the air.”
Defence strategist John Blaxland told SBS he thinks Donald Trump is simply making Lockheed Martin sweat, much like his tweet about Boeing's Air Force One contract.
Mr Blaxland believes this is deal-making, ‘businessman Trump’ talking.
“The problem with the aircraft isn't so much the contract, it's the aircraft. The aircraft haven't been delivering up to the standard people have expected. The program has slipped, the cost has ballooned. And we’re seeing the options, really, eliminated.”
Mr Blaxland says Australia is stuck between a rock and a hard place, because we can’t back out of a deal when there’s no other option on the market.
“This is the only fifth generation aircraft available.”
“There’s no European alternative. The only alternatives are Russian and Chinese, they’re unproven technologies, they’re not compatible with Australia’s equipment we have so far.”
“We’re locked in, we have to make it work.”
Mr Trump’s tweet caused stocks in Lockheed Martin to dive 4 per cent.
In Israel to welcome the country’s first F-35, Lockheed Martin executive Jeff Babione said the company has already cut costs.
“Lockheed Martin and its industry partners understand the importance of affordability for the F-35 program, and since the beginning, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce the price of the airplane.”
Though touted as an "all-in-one" aircraft, its capabilities are still not fully operational, and without any competitors, Lockheed Martin is in a field of its own.
Four Australians are in Arizona training for the F-35, which we won't be able to use until 2020.
While it is not yet known whether Mr Trump will be able to offer a viable alternative, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia should focus on any foreign policy changes under a Trump administration once he is inaugurated.
“President-elect Trump is entitled to question costs. Australia of course doesn’t accept things unquestioningly.”
“I think it's more productive and useful for us to make comment once the Trump administration has been sworn in, the President's been inaugurated, and we're dealing with realities, not hypotheticals.”
