For the second time in a generation, Europe's ambition to forge a common sword has splintered against the ancient rivalries of national pride and industrial interest. The collapse in June of the Franco-German Future Combat Air System — after eight years of negotiation — leaves the continent fractured at precisely the moment when sixth-generation air power is being decided, with the UK-Italy-Japan Tempest programme advancing, France charting a solitary course, and Germany searching for a door that may already be closing. The deeper wound is economic: fighter jets require orders in the hundreds