My two penn’th.
As a FJ guy I have mostly just read this thread and not felt qualified to comment. However, I can see an obvious parallel.
Typhoon was touted to replace Jaguar, F3 and GR4 and, to a lesser extent, Harrier.
You can see what a Politician will think. “Why did you ask for all that money for a new jet if you’re still flying all the old ones?”
The bottom line is that, sooner or later, you have to grasp the nettle.
Typhoon took some serious effort and money to get it to where it is now but, we can all agree, it is doing pretty bloody well (yes I know there are other improvements still to happen).
I have spoken with guys from the A400 fleet so I am aware of the issues. Is it possible though, that A400 will be very good (eventually) but that nobody is enjoying the nettle grasping that will shortly happen?
From a Politicians point of view you can see why the C130 is ripe for the chop. “Why do you need Voyager, C17, A400 and C130?”
Despite all I have just said, I personally can still see a case for the C130 but I’m afraid my budget just won’t stretch that far. And nobody really cares what I think!
BV