Originally Posted by
Icare9
Reading that many airlines are mothballing their a 380 fleets, isn't this an opportunity for the MoD to purchase and convert the widebody frames to AEW/ASW/AS&R roles?
Without much modification surely supply and support roles at the very least?
Simple and short answer, No.
Slightly longer one - modification is never easy, simple or cheap. D&D and flight trials would be long and expensive. The A380 is way too big to fill any role apart from pax transport. Anyway, E-7 is coming to fill AEW, and P-8 is coming to fill ASW & LRSAR roles - or at least they were until the UK's GDP decreased thanks to CV19, which is going to mean an even bigger hole in the Defence budget