When the U.S. Navy’s fleet of F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jets is headed for the scrap heap because an essential chip is unavailable, what do they do? They turn to Ryan Hatcher , the CEO and founder of Phoenix Semiconductor. Hatcher repackages off-the-shelf semiconductors into devices that are virtually identical to the phased-out chips. “You’re not going to park a US $100 million aircraft, whether it’s a 737 or an F-35, for a $1,000 chip, even if that chip originally cost five bucks,” Hatcher says. “We’re hooking up the supply of components you can get off the shelf today at volume, at low cost, with the demand for parts that are no longer available, but for which there’s tremendous marginal need.” In the Navy’s case, they turned to Phoenix specifically for a replacement part needed to maintain the jet fighter’s bleed-air control unit that regulates cockpit air pressure and temperature.…