One of the most valuable and controversial military aircraft replacement programmes in history will edge a step closer to being resolved later this year, when the US Air Force chooses a supplier for its air-to-air refuelling tankers.
The long-awaited decision, expected in October, will reveal the winner of a $40bn competition to provide 179 so-called KC-X tankers that has pitted the parent company of Airbus against Boeing in the US defence market for the first time.
