I thought that the Germans had come up with the cash late last week -- and that it is under constitutional challenge from an odd coalition of conservatives and communists.
As for the A400M vs C-17 story, if the slow death of the A400M means that the RAF will purchase its existing C-17s and get some more, the sooner the better. For far too long the British military procurement budget has been a very poor substitute for an industrial policy -- if we're serious about the military let's buy the best equipment avaliable for the money available, especially as large real increases in budgets are pretty unlikely!
ToT