Originally Posted by
Easy Street
The transport fleet cuts reflect the Integrated Review's overdue shift in policy emphasis away from COIN and stabilisation operations. Any prospect of that policy decision being reversed must surely have been terminated by our efforts in Afghanistan being exposed as entirely futile. It's fortunate that we still have the C130s to help get out of that mess. But the correct response is not to keep the aircraft: it's to avoid getting into such a situation again.
the correct response is to keep them until we have a credible replacement, which currently we do not. It’s oft said but worth repeating: many air forces worldwide are investing in the C130 - including several of those that also have A400. Seems odd to me that we alone are going against the flow. They must all be wrong.