Lockheed Martin Inflates F-35 Jobs Claims, Nonprofit Says

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-22/lockheed-martin-inflates-f-35-jobs-claims-nonprofit-says.html

Lockheed Martin Inflates F-35 Jobs Claims, Nonprofit Says
By Tony Capaccio 2014-01-22T11:00:00Z

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) has “greatly exaggerated” the number of U.S. jobs generated by the F-35 fighter jet, the Pentagon’s costliest weapons program, according to a new report from a nonprofit research group.

The company’s claim that it has created 125,000 U.S.-based direct and indirect jobs in 46 states “is roughly double the likely number of jobs sustained by the program,” the Center for International Policy said in the report released today.

“The real figure, based on standard estimating procedures used in other studies in the field, should be on the order of 50,000 to 60,000,” the Washington-based center said.

The number of jobs generated by the $391.2 billion program has been a key selling point for Lockheed Martin in mustering support in Congress. Led by a 39-member “F-35 Congressional Caucus”, lawmakers fully funded the 29 jets the Pentagon requested in this year’s defense budget.