Originally Posted by
A4scooter
Regardless of the A400 v C130 debate an aircraft can only be in one place at once & apart from Belgium & Luxembourg every other A400 operator has a fleet of smaller aircraft (C130, C235 & C295) to supplement the A400 fleet, is everyone else wrong & the RAF is right?
The RAF will be left with 2 x Falcon 900, 22 x A400, 8 x C17 & 10 x A330 while the UK has more military commitments than most & is heavily involved in humanitarian aid which will keep them very busy.
Reading this with interest, but I wonder whether this is a huge capacity reduction, compared to say 40 years ago when the RAF's transport fleet was round 55 Hercules, 20 VC10s of various types (some with maindeck tanks so very little transport capability vs AAR). Admittedly 6 TriStars came along soon after, but even so... Sure, more aircraft back then, but in terms of total payload/range for the transport fleet?