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Evolutionary & revolutionary-Summit Design and Engineering in Helena is flying high

Helena company subcontracts jobs on Air Force project to build unique stealth jet fighter.
In an age of modern warfare, the United States’ response has been to beef up the military. Helping to put the odds of victory in
favor of America is the newest F-22 Raptor jet fighter.

By CHRISTINA QUINN, IR Business Writer

The unique plane can reach an altitude of 50,000 feet and hover over targets at speeds of 650 mph, all the while undetectable by
enemy radar.
This supreme fighting machine is the creation of a conglomerate of U.S. businesses: Lockheed Martin, the Boeing Company, Pratt
and Whitney, and more than 100 subcontractors, including Helena’s Summit Design and Engineering, according to Greg Caires,
communications manager for Lockheed Martin.

Pratt and Whitney created the engine, he said.
Boeing built the wings and tail, Lockheed constructed the front two-thirds of the airplane, and Summit subcontracted work on both
projects.
By 2005, the businesses will have perfected the Raptor for the U.S. Air Force to use in combat, replacing the F-15 Eagle. The U.S.
government plans to buy 339 of the F-22s for $92 million each, according to Air Force pilot Bret Luedke of Montana, who is also an
F-22 test pilot.

The government believes purchase of the Raptor is important for the defense of the United States, he said.
The French have the Rafales, the European Union has the Eurofighter, and Taiwan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have the
Mirage 2000; all are fighter planes competitive with the U.S. F-15.

This multi-national competition is why the race is on, Sen. Conrad Burns said, during a speech last week at Summit.
“This airplane is a must. It is a must that we build it,” he said. “This represents freedom. That is what it is all about. Freedom equals
opportunity and it is all bound together with responsibility.”

The opportunity factor has not bypassed Helena, where Summit is building tools and parts for the F-22 projects.
The company’s employees built the wing spars for the test F-22, according to Helena Regional Airport Manager Ron Mercer; the
airport leases land to Summit.
Summit also built dozens of tools for the canopy, landing gear and fuselage assembly lines, and just finished installing the
fuselage assembly line in Marietta, Ga.

This work is an example of boosting Montana’s economy one job at a time, according to Sen. Max Baucus, who helped facilitate
the most recent contract Summit made with Boeing.

“I’m proud to have helped Summit expand and create new jobs for Montana,” he said in a written statement. “That’s what happens
when we work together and do what’s right for Montana."
Working with the congressional delegation enabled Summit to secure its current job building the engine access doors of the F-22.

“It’s been a real introduction to Helena into the high-tech world,” Mercer said.
The final product of the F-22 outdoes the competition, said Luedke, who travels to supplier companies like Summit to thank them
for the plane he flies.
“The F-22 itself is both evolutionary and revolutionary in its capability,” he said.
The shape, reflection and ability of the plane to absorb radar waves gives it extreme stealth capability so it blends in with the birds
and the bees, he said.

It has agility, enabling the plane to turn and point with exceptional speed; super cruise, enabling longer flights; and integrated
avionics, allowing the pilot to see 360 degrees on one screen.
The F-22 also allows pilots to communicate without detection.

Altogether this means first-look, first-shot and first-kill capability, Luedke said.
It’s a plane that doesn’t play fair with the enemy, and that’s just how Luedke said he and other pilots like it.

Reporter Christina Quinn can be reached at 447-4075.

http://helenair.com/business/1E1.html

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