Georgia governor Sonny Perdue gets a look inside the Super Hornet.

The U.S. military presence at the Paris Air Show this year is larger than at any other time during the Bush administration. A Navy LT who preferred not to reveal his name spoke with me about this and more while we walked the DoD's static display of U.S. aircraft. An F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot based in Oceana, Virginia, the LT was frequently interrupted by the demands of high-profile visitors curious to see the inside of the aircraft's cockpit. After Georgia governor Sonny Perdue was satisfied, a former Soviet MiG pilot and Moldovan minister of defense now serving as that country's ambassador to NATO carefully examined the F/A-18 Super Hornet's components. I didn't detect a spy-camera, but I did ask his Boeing chaperone if Moldova is in the market for fighter jets. The well-meaning exec chuckled as he motioned to a nearby HARM air-to-ground missile. "They can't even afford one of those," he said, let alone a strike fighter like the Super Hornet.

After the VIPs took off, the pilot explained that he was pulling double duty in France--in addition to the standard DoD role, he also claimed a responsibility to help Boeing, the F/A-18's manufacturer, sell airplanes. But the LT had one more self-assigned, unofficial mission: to elevate the sagging reputation of the United States here in France. And he also offered a stunning defense of the French people, who he claimed are completely misrepresented back in the States. According to him, the French are friendly, speak more English than they used to--which he said is a shame and evidence of the destructive power of our pervasive culture--and have been much better war-time allies than we give them credit for. We say the LT's entitled to his opinion on this matter, but his wife, a WEEKLY STANDARD subscriber he confides, might disagree.

Getting back to the aircraft, the LT--perhaps in his capacity as a flack for the F/A-18--said the manufacturers are responsive to the concerns and demands of the pilots who have to fly their planes. When another Oceana-based squadron experienced an ejection mishap, Boeing was quick to help rectify the potentially-fatal problem. And when the F-14 was about to be decommissioned by the U.S. Navy, Northrop still put out "100 percent effort," making repairs to the bitter end.