![]() ![]() He brought up expenses, saying that the military would be "hard pressed" to buy a current-generation fighter jet and upgrade it with necessary sensors for what the Air Force version of the F-35 will cost per plane in full production. … Probably nobody in this room owns a 24-year-old car. "These are the aircraft that our young pilots are taking into harm's way every day," he said. He put the average age of currently flying Air Force fighter aircraft at 24 years. Thirty-four years later, that's still the Air Force's front-line fighter, he said. He and other suppliers were on hand for the Lockheed and Northrop Grumman event Thursday, along with elected officials and camera-toting reporters.Ĭonroy, speaking to the crowd at the National Electronics Museum, said he was among the first to fly the F-16 for the Air Force in 1979. "But that number could grow considerably over the coming years as the program ramps up," said David Copenhaver, the company's president. From their perspective, more jets mean more jobs.īaltimore-based RESCO Defense, which supplies component electronics parts for the F-35, has two of its 10 employees working on the program. Maryland F-35 contractors look forward to faster production - the anticipated full-out pace is about 200 a year. President Barack Obama's budget request for the fiscal year beginning in October asks for funding to buy 29 of the jets, the same number he requested for the current year. So far, funding for purchases is flat, Stifel's Loomis said. So the single most important thing we can do right now, and we obviously need the help of the government to do this, is to keep that production rate climbing." "The costs continue to come down because we're learning to build the aircraft better," Conroy said.īeyond that, he added, "The way you continue to save money and bring costs down … is by building them in quantity. Lockheed, which says every flight-test operation has growing pains, insists it is reining in the expense of construction. The company is running its own simulator event next week on Capitol Hill. Boeing, which lost the race to build the jet, is pitching its cheaper Super Hornet strike fighter to Canada as that country re-evaluates whether to buy the F-35. Contractors, for instance, still are working to fix deficiencies in the helmet-mounted display that are so significant, they're also developing a second helmet design in case the first can't be used, the GAO said.Īnd a Pentagon memo, written in February and acquired by the Project on Government Oversight, identified a list of "serious" problems found in testing, including a potential fire risk in the fuel system and lack of lightning protection.Ĭompetitors see a potential opportunity. The agency said program performance is improving in some areas, but problems remain. #GeomagicStrong.The Pentagon originally expected that the jets would be in full production by last year, rather than still in testing. I will carry the experiences, memories and friends with me on my next journey. It has been a privilege to work with the best of the best. Andrew McEwen at Oqton, Corey Mayeda, John C Schuck, Gregory George Jr., Sean Parker. Last but not least, goodbye to the Rockstar Sales Team in the the AMS. To the ones who left us way too soon & Nicholas Chwalek, your memories are always with us. #GEOMAGIC RULES! I will need to figure out how to visit #Control and meet with all my favorite scanner manufacturers for a conversation and a pint □. I will miss the most FANTASTIC Channel in the world. I will always have a special place in my heart for Rob Black, Kevin Scofield & Adeline Chan who spent extra hours educating me on 3D space. Thank you to the EMEA team for embracing me during my first two weeks on the job when I visited EUROMOLD, Eric Wind, Gerd Schwaderer & Jean-Michel Koch. I am grateful for all the mentors that I met through their leadership roles at #Geomagic, Grace Ueng, Cathy Hofknecht, Len Chamberlain, Tom Kurke to mention a few. I am thankful to Ping Fu for inspiring me to take this job and to challenge myself. ![]() MilneĪfter working 16+ wonderful years with #Geomagic, I am starting a new adventure (TBD). “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” - A.A. ![]()
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