Though I do know where there are some C130J's going cheap....
These additional A400's were remember to pick up the slack when the C130 was retired... Sigh, every man and his dog are strengthening their military during uncertain times and the UK PLC are chopping it left, right and centre, while they blow £100bn on a sodding rail link with 't Norf that will knock a whole 15 minutes off the journey time..
WTF does "
Air Command is developing an affordable choice to improve A400M availability"
The Ministry of Defence has abandoned plans to purchase additional A400M transport aircraft due to cost.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence published its tenth annual summary of the defence equipment plan, the report contained references to the purchase of more A400M transport aircraft.
Part of the document stated:
“In later years of the plan, planned equipment investments worth £2.3 billion, including a second tranche of F35 and further A400M aircraft, have not yet been delegated to TLBs and doing so will be dependent on the affordability of the programme as a whole.”
However, in a report from the National Audit Office examining the announced equipment plan, it’s stated that this plan has now been dropped.
“An option to purchase additional A400M aircraft was assessed as
unaffordable. Air Command is developing an affordable choice to
improve A400M availability. Some funding is held centrally.”
It’s worth remembering that the Royal Air Force will lose its entire fleet of C-130 Hercules aircraft by 2023. The Defence Command Paper released last year, titled ‘
Defence in a Competitive Age‘, states:
“The Royal Air Force will retire the BAe146 as planned by 2022 and take the C130 Hercules out of service by 2023. The A400M Atlas force will increase its capacity and capability, operating alongside C 17 Globemaster and Voyager transport aircraft and tankers.”
The C-130J variants first entered service with the Royal Air Force in the late 1990s and some of the C-130s have been retired in recent years but the remaining 14 had originally been due to keep flying until the mid-2030s. It is understood that, where possible, their missions will be picked up by the fleet of larger A400M Atlas transport aircraft.
What does Atlas do?
According to the Royal Air Force website, Atlas has the ability to carry a 37-tonne payload over 2,000nm to established and remote civilian and military airfields, and short unprepared or semi-prepared strips. Capable of operating at altitudes up to 40,000ft, Atlas also offers impressive low-level capability.
“It will accommodate as many as 116 fully-equipped troops; vehicles; helicopters, including a Chinook; mixed loads, including nine aircraft pallets and 54 passengers, or combinations of vehicles, pallets and personnel, up to a payload of 37 tonnes.”
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/plans-to-buy-more-transport-aircraft-scrapped-due-to-cost/
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