Agreed. Was disheartened to read that the machine's primary use in the coming years will be to build JSF planes instead of infrastructure for new light rail networks.
At least that fact that it was refurbished and continues to be used means that when the time comes (and it will), the US will have the equipment it needs to produce most of that infrastructure itself.
The JSF was just an example. With a 30 cycle per hour rate it should be obvious that JSFs can't be a primary use.
They make a lot of critical parts for commercial airliners.
Parts where a high strength to weight or volume ratio is critical are the candidates for such an expensive process. I suspect most of the output is in aircraft, spacecraft, turbine blades, and possibly other machine tools. The journalist had to pick one that people would recognize.
