Chapter 161 Fighter Jet

September 12, 2013, Future Tech Headquarters.

The cutting-edge conference room at the penthouse was filled with the upper echelon executives of the corporation directly involved in the F-35 joint project.

It included hard-hitting personnel like the brilliant artificial intelligence engineer Patel, the Director of FT Softworks, Mike, the red-haired mad scientist from Robotics, Heidi, and the aerodynamics and racing engineer, Kevin.

Clearly, the business meeting held much significance to the Austin Tech Giant's operations as it also hosted a highly influential figure in the US military-industrial complex, Marrilyn Hewson from Lockheed Martin.

Presiding over the meeting was a professionally yet simply dressed young man seated at the head of the table.

A large format projector screen descended from the ceiling and completely covered the room's wall.

Vince Dalton began the conference by sincerely saying, "I'm grateful to everyone present for today's meeting. Before we begin, I'd like to welcome a special guest, Marrilyn. I hope this partnership mutually benefits our corporations."

The middle-aged woman acknowledged the formal pleasantries offered by Vince Dalton with a nod and an amicable smile.

The rest of the executives remained silent to allow their CEO to start the discussion. Vince said, "The Pentagon has entrusted one of its most vital projects to Future Tech to produce dependable fifth-generation fighter jets for its use and sale to allied nations. The scope of the task encompasses cost, reliability, advanced weapons systems, and ease of manufacturing. I'll give the floor to our aviation specialist, Kevin Lawson, to discuss the redesigned features since beginning the development process three weeks ago."

The British man in his 40s procured his Infinity Tablet and then swiped on its display towards the projector allowing everyone to view a 3D presentation of the F-35.

The room's attention moved toward the screen as the Future Tech F1 Director explained, "As everyone can observe, the fighter jet's base physical dimensions did not alter much because of Lockheed Martin's magnificently aerodynamic characteristics. Thanks to the complete schematics generously provided by LM enabled my department to focus on the jet's internal architecture. Our primary goals include weight, structural integrity under load, and serviceability."

The 3D presentation. To achieve balanced and desirable qualities, we've completely replaced the Pratt & Whitney F136. The original engine's research and development, funded by the Pentagon, had continuously exceeded budget and eventually halted. Therefore, implementing a new power unit is critical for the fighter jet's further advancement."

Kevin tapped on his Infinity Tablet, then the fighter jet's 3D model on the screen disassembled itself, revealing each major component.

The Infinity Presentation focused on an intricate turbofan engine accompanied by its performance statistics.

Kevin continued, "The Koenigsegg Raptor-M Hybrid Engine is a miniature version, almost half the size and displacement of the Starship's power units, that's primarily utilized by Future Tech's latest AV products like the FT-05 Super Galaxy. It's much smaller than the P&T F136, weighs 30% less, produces slightly more thrust with top-class efficiency, and saves internal space for additional components. The engine was extensively tested for various atmospheric tolerances and certified by NASA for commercial use in aerospace and aviation."

After Kevin explained the advantages of the Raptor-M, the 3D presentation changed its focus on the aircraft's belly, then FT Robotics Director Heidi began discussing the jet's new weapons systems.

The red-haired engineer stated, "Due to the decreased power unit size, my department could concentrate solely on improving the F-35's offensive capabilities without much concern over space."

A 3D model of the weapon's bay appeared similar to the engine from earlier but included a list of various bay modules.

Heidi continued, "For air-to-air combat, the weapon bay is configured to carry eight AIM-120s for stealth missions and sixteen for non-stealth action. For air-to-surface, the bay can accommodate four missiles and eight precision-guided glide bombs for alpha strike assignments. The most impactful alteration my department designed is the Gimbal System that operates the jet's armaments."

The 3D model demonstrated the weapon bay opening to reveal the autonomous munition mounts that automatically adjusted their angle and positioning.

Heidi explained, "Our research into basic dog fighting principles revealed the importance of pilots correctly establishing themselves before launching missiles to ensure it's locked onto the target. The Gimbal System reduces the pilot's responsibility in correctly employing weapons by calculating the probability of hitting the target and automatically compensates for sudden changes in combat. It's currently set to release missiles at 90% hit chance but could be adjusted on the fly depending on the scenario. "

Marrilyn was impressed by the weapons solution FT Robotics had developed but said, "The Gimbal System is significant advancement though I doubt the Pentagon will allow it to be sold to foreign nations."

The US military agreed to sell the fifth-generation fighters just because it fielded the highly superior F-22, maintaining its hegemony over the sky.

Heidi explained, "We've considered DOD's perspective on the matter, and only US F-35s will be equipped with the weapon bay gimbals."

Marrilyn seemed satisfied with Heidi's explanation as the Pentagon was still their primary customer that planned to purchase more than two thousand F-35s.

The presentation demonstrated a simulation of the jet's flight capabilities, specifically, the vertical take-off and landing system.

Patel began his portion of the explanation by saying, "Arguably, the most difficult aspect of reducing the F-35 into one variant instead of three is the extremely strict requirements set by the US Navy. My department has almost completely mastered terrestrial VTOL through its comprehensive work with SpaceX and applied the same artificial intelligence logic on the F-35. The jet is expected to land on various aircraft carrier models safely, so we've ensured its compatibility by studying the jet it is meant to replace, the Harrier Jump Jet."

Then, the 3D model from the presentation revealed hidden mini-turbofans embedded at the center of each fixed-wing via a sliding door.

Patel explained, "Instead of positioning the vertical engine in the middle of the aircraft, we implemented two fans on the wings to provide superior take-off and landing control, assisted by thrust vectoring from the rear. These additional wing turbofans could potentially enhance the F-35's flight capabilities in dogfights, but practical testing is necessary to determine its feasibility aside from landing and take-off."

Marrilyn was pleased with the alterations Patel implemented and said, "If the jet can consistently land on moving aircraft carriers, the US Navy will be ecstatic."

Patel accepted the praise while the presentation focused on the jet's cockpit and its components.

Future Tech Softwork's Director, Mike, explained, "Modern jet fighters that fly electronically require ample computational overhead for its many systems. Therefore, we'll be replacing the aging onboard computer with an Infinity Processing Module certified for use in orbital satellites that should provide enough compute power for its existing and additional systems." Marrilyn had already learned of the change from her conversation with Jessica before the meeting but remained silent for Mike to expand on the topic.

He continued by saying, "A significant portion of the computing power will be dedicated to running the Pilot Hypervisor Helmet. Based on the infantry helmet the Pentagon purchases for its infantry, the Pilot Hypervisor Helmet is vastly distinct primarily due to its custom flight software for controlling all the different aspects of the aircraft and robust life-support system."

Mike explained a few minor changes on the physical dashboard as the previous dials and gauges had been designed into the helmet's software, then concluded the presentation.

The Future Tech executives allowed Marrilyn to provide her thoughts and opinions on the joint project. She honestly said, "I'm surprised your corporation has redesigned our jet fighter so much in only three weeks and below budget."

Vince decided to answer, "The core departments within Future Tech are accustomed to tackling projects in a collaborative way. Many of the F-35's functions have already been developed for our other products, making it significantly easier to perform parallel and iterative design processes."

Marrilyn mentally noted the young man's research and development strategy before saying, "Alright, but the consequential question is cost."

The US government initially planned to buy more than 2,500 units to supply its military services and allies within NATO to strengthen defenses against the inevitable Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.

The F-35 originally had a price tag of $85 million, not something one would randomly buy at a Walmart checkout aisle.

Vince didn't reveal a definite price but instead sincerely asked, "I've heard Lockheed Martin ran into some trouble manufacturing a few key components like the landing gear. Which parts can LM consistently produce without substantially increasing the cost of each unit?"

The young man inquired respectfully, so she honestly answered, "Our factories can reliably produce the internal wiring, stabilizers, wings, base hull."

Vince nodded in acknowledgment and said, "Please wait a moment while I update my CFO, Ralph."

He scrolled and swiped his Infinity Watch using the touchpad for a minute, then said, "Each prototype will cost $105 million, but Ralph estimates it to decrease by $25 million during mass production. Though my friend and business partner, Christian Von Koenigsegg, won't be happy with the smaller margins."

Marrilyn smiled and amicably replied, "Alright. Now let's find ourselves some test pilots."

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Check the glossary chapter for current business stats.

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