I think a lot of people are looking for excuses for not getting the aircraft. After relying on Hercs for getting me around and the amount of hassles because the Herc is not quite big enough, the C-17 would be a good addition to the ADF. Just cast your minds back to when Australia has deployed overseas. When the Iroquois were bought back from the Siani, they used a C-5 because the didn't require disassembly to transport. When the Tampa crisis was happening, the only aircraft the could get to Christmas Island in a hurry in a Herc was a UH-1H without much disassembly. A Black Hawk would have taked a few more days to get there. How much easier would have it been to have our own C-17 to transport the Black Hawks to Pakistan and just role them out the back, spread the blades and fly. Herc transporting of our rotary wing assests is an ongoing and necessary requirement of our transport aircraft. Even a chook will fit into a C-17. With Tiger, MRH-90 and what ever the Navy gets to replace Sea King, the ability to get it anywhere in the world without much stuffing around is a bonus. Just imagine everything else we could transport around that doesn't fit into a Herc. We have relied upon chartering aircraft to do to many operational tasks for too many years. The C-17 is not only the best aircraft for it but long overdue. As for the $2b price tag, what a bargin. As someone else has already stated, that covers spares training etc. but also includes the follow up support through logistics, spares etc for the length of the project. There are a quite a few extras required to run a bi aircraft and $2b will just about cover it. The C-17 is not a tank transporter, it has the capability to do it but has the capability to do so much more that what we currently have.