Pentagon to look at plans for Lockheed plane: WSJ

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The Defense Department is considering buying the newest fighter plane for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, the Journal said on its online edition on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Pentagon's senior weapons buyers are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to weigh plans to purchase 2,458 of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft from Lockheed Martin Corp <LMT.N>, a deal that could cost up to $1 trillion to develop over the coming decades, the Wall Street Journal said.

The Defense Department is considering buying the newest fighter plane for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, the Journal said on its online edition on Tuesday.

However, the purchase comes amid growing concerns by lawmakers on the rising size of the tab, the newspaper said. Lockheed beat Boeing Co <BA.N> for the F-35 contract in 2001, and it has become crucial for the Bethesda, Maryland., defense contractor.

"Lockheed Martin is looking forward to the results of the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting on March 26th and to the Low Rate Initial Production II go ahead. We are optimistic that the DAB will recognize the program's progress over the last year," Lockheed Martin said in a statement to Reuters.

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The Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigative arm, earlier this month said that buying all the planes will cost $300 billion based on government data from December 2006.

An additional $650 billion will be needed to maintain and operate them well into this century, the Journal said. The GAO says the planes, with development costs, will average $122 million each in current dollars.

(Reporting by Ilaina Jonas, editing by Jacqueline Wong)