Quoted:
It's so depressing that we only have B-2s and F-22s in token quantities.
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... These things take time. I remember when I started working on the first C17 nearly 20 years ago, yet there are only ~160 made. Similar condition with the Apache ~1200 made starting in 1982.
... Military aircraft are incredibly complex machines. The process to design and build them are tedious and painfully slow.
... Even in the day of high-speed machining, automated factories, efficiency and quality metrics & "Manufacturing and Engineering Lean", there is only so much fat you can trim before you begin to compromise safety and mission capability.
... Yet I love the business so. I'm constantly planning an early retirement, but it's a double edged sword - I'm sometimes afraid I'll be missing the "game" once I leave it.