Pete Hegseth, US secretary of War, to visit Fort Worth's Lockheed Martin

Matt Leclercq, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Jan 11, 2026

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Pete Hegseth, the U.S. secretary of war, will visit Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth on Monday as well as SpaceX in Brownsville, where “patriots work tirelessly, not with rifles, but with hardhats and relentless dedication, to ensure our military remains the most lethal and capable fighting force in the world,” the Pentagon said Sunday.

Hegseth will deliver remarks to SpaceX employees alongside Elon Musk, the company’s founder.

This is part of Hegseth’s “Arsenal of Freedom” tour and a “direct follow-up to Secretary Hegseth’s call to action delivered to defense executives last fall at Fort McNair.”

“For too long, Pentagon bureaucracy has hindered the speed and might of our manufacturing base, obstructing innovation and warfare solutions from companies like SpaceX and Lockheed Martin,” the Department of War said in a statement Sunday. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, we are unleashing the full power of our Defense Industrial Base (DIB) to advance our Peace Through Strength agenda.”

The Pentagon described Monday’s event as Hegseth’s “third major speech” since he was sworn in.

“This tour is intended to fuel a revival of our Defense Industrial Base, ensuring it can supply America’s finest with technologically superior products at the speed of relevance, the statement said. “This guarantees our dominance not just for today, but for generations to come.

Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility builds the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet for the Pentagon and foreign allies. In December, the company rolled out the first in a series of F-35A jets for Finland.

The F-35 is the most economically significant defense program in history, according to Lockheed, creating 290,000 U.S. jobs and contributing $72 billion to the economy annually.

Lockheed Martin has a $17.7 billion payroll in Texas, and the F-35 production facility in Fort Worth employs roughly 19,200 technicians, mechanics, engineers and support staff, and relies on nearly 900 Texas suppliers. The program has contributed $7 billion in local economic benefits, according to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, and supported over 30,000 jobs in the greater Fort Worth economy.