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Like the roar of a jet overhead, a tweet from President-elect Donald Trump complaining about the cost of the U.S. military's F-35 grabbed attention in Utah and on Wall Street on Monday.

The tweet immediately had an effect on the stock price of F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, wiping out nearly $4 billion of the company's market value.

Utah has been a major beneficiary of the F-35 program, which is expected to cost a trillion dollars over the decades. The 388th Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base is receiving 78 of the fighter jets by the end of 2019.

In addition, the Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill conducts maintenance on F-35s from both the U.S. military and its allies. It has received 54 F-35s since 2013, base spokesman Micah Garbarino wrote in an email Monday.

There's plenty to maintain. Besides the avionics, F-35s have stealth technology designed to evade radar and expensive high-tech helmets that show video displays from multiple sides of the aircraft, as well as computers that find targets in the air or on the ground.

A fact sheet the base provided Monday said Hill received more than $120 million to prepare for the F-35s' arrival. When the F-35 mission at the base is completely up and running, according to the fact sheet, the F-35 will result in 260 positions added to the 1,600 active-duty airmen in the 388th about 200 added to the 1,100 airmen in the Air Force Reserve's 419th Fighter Wing.

Utah's all-Republican congressional delegation stood by the F-35.

"I've been in regular communication with the president-elect on a number of issues related to his agenda, including national security," Sen. Orrin Hatch said Monday. "In future conversations, I plan to emphasize the superior capabilities of the F-35 and the indispensable role this aircraft plays in our national defense strategy. The F-35 has overcome many of the inevitable problems that occur when fielding any new fighter. Thanks in no small part to the extraordinary work of the men and women at Hill Air Force Base, the F-35 is now operational and ready for combat."

While the Air Force in August declared the F-35s at Hill to be "combat ready," they are unlikely to see any fighting until at least 2019.

"Every incoming administration should absolutely take a hard look at our nation's weapons systems," Sen. Mike Lee said. "I am confident that any investigation of the F-35 will reveal the outstanding work being done on these jets at the Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill Air Force Base."

Lee went on to say what other proponents of the F-35 have said — that the aircraft is likely to get cheaper as manufacturing continues.

Rep. Rob Bishop said he wasn't concerned by Trump's tweet.

"So the idea of trying to save money is something that everyone is after," Bishop said. "The F-35 is the future of both the Air Force, the Marines and the Navy. There is no other alternative."

But the tweet made Dan Grazier, the Jack Shanahan Fellow at the Project On Government Oversight in Washington, D.C., feel better. He has been critical of the F-35.

Grazier pointed out that Trump lambasted the cost of the F-35 while on the campaign trail, too.

Grazier acknowledged that canceling the F-35 would be an almost impossible political task. The program has components in about 350 congressional districts, Grazier said, contending that the Pentagon designed the contracting that way to gain political support.

"I have literally had [congressional] staffers tell me that, 'Look, we cannot oppose the F-35 because it's worth a thousand jobs for us,' " Grazier said. Trump or his Secretary of Defense nominee James Mattis, if he is confirmed, could lessen the cost by reducing the number of F-35s the military plans to buy from Lockheed. Grazier pointed to 2009, when then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates reduced the number of F-22s the Air Force planned to purchase.

The F-35 program made up 20 percent of Lockheed's total 2015 revenue of $46.1 billion. And U.S. government orders accounted for 78 percent of its revenue last year. The F-35 program directly or indirectly supports more than 146,000 U.S. jobs, according to the company's website .

In a statement Monday, Lockheed asserted that it has worked to lower the price of the F-35 by more than 60 percent and said it expects the aircraft to cost $85 million in 2019 and 2020.

"We welcome the opportunity to address any questions the president-elect has about the program," said Jeff Babione, general manager of the F-35 program. "It's an amazing program."

This marks the second time in a week that Trump has blasted U.S. aircraft spending. Trump tweeted last week that costs to build new presidential planes by Boeing Corp. were "out of control" and ended the tweet with, "Cancel order!"

— Tribune reporter Thomas Burr and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

ncarlisle@sltrib.com

Twitter: @natecarlisle