Earlier in this thread there were questions raised about the efficiency of the A400M. This issue was discussed back in April '07 (in posts 40 to 43 of the
http://www.pprune.org/spectators-bal...ml#post3218446 thread) when Airbus announced the first delay to the project. It was subsequently discussed in a lot more detail in this thread last August;
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...ke-2009-a.html