Boeing has not won a single international KC-46 order thus far; the Airbus KC-30 now has 48 orders.

The jetliner supply chain might find itself the victim of someone else’s idea of success. As both Airbus and Boeing consider a further ramp-up of their A320 and 737 single-aisle jetliner families, everyone involved should consider the likely ramifications.

After nearly 100 years, manned fighters still represent the overwhelming bulk of airpower, but predictions of their irrelevance or obsolescence are still with us.