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The initial order of 200 planes was disappointing. Many expected that order to be closer to 500. So for this order, not even getting half the projected amount had to come across as anticlimactic. But, further reports from no less than President Trump suggest that the order could actually go up in the future, hitting as many as 750 planes, an order size better than three times the current one.

Details about the deal are still sketchy, with the rise from 200 to 750 apparently contingent on “…if they do a good job.” Either way, though, this still represents the first major deal Boeing has seen in China in almost 10 years, reports note. Trade tensions between China and the United States led to that shutdown, and it seems that these same tensions are about to be banished with help from President Trump. Though what was most odd about the deal is that, so far, Boeing has not commented on the deal itself. Normally, large orders are met with great fanfare, disappointing or otherwise.

Ramping Up the KC-46

The United States Air Force is lighting a fire under Boeing, getting a plan together for Boeing to improve delivery on the KC-46 Pegasus tanker. The plan encompasses three key points, the first of which is to step up the schedule on the Remote Vision System 2.0 retrofit. The second calls for Boeing to repurpose aircraft built earlier in the product life cycle, and the third looks to institute a “…performance-based logistics effort” to help address readiness issues.