Washington policy hawks are having fits about the fact that the U.S. Air Force has two choices when it comes to a new tanker aircraft: accept Boeing as a monopoly supplier, or accept an open, equal competition that could result in the aircraft being assembled in France.
The scene is being set for even more fun a few years down the road. When USAF's fleet of long-range airlifters starts to wear out--a date being driven closer by combat operations--there will be one military cargo aircraft in production that can do a long-distance mission for the U.S. military, and it will be made in Europe by Airbus...
Alternatively, they'll probably classify the source and proclaim it a patriotic subcontractor of Lockheed.
That, or likely revert to zeppelins.
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