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The US Air Force is struggling with a problem of the modern age: electronic parts that become obsolete before the aircraft designed to use them enters production. The F-22 Raptor, for example, includes electronic components that, while designed only 18-24 months ago, are no longer available as the companies that made them went out of business or moved on to making other parts. They are trying to design aircraft that can more easily accommodate advancing technology.--Stephen V Cole