Hey..SFFP..
My comments were/are directed at the manufacturer of those two airplanes you mentioned.
These are supposed to be warfighters, operating at or near the front lines, or where ever the loads are needed most.
By 'configured' I meant that the airplanes are significantly more complicated and difficult to maintain than they need to be...I am much, much happier to see the likes of an C130H-type airplane, not in the fact that it performs better, or carries more, because the 'J' does both of those things better.
But inside, it should be a 'H', together with the systems that keep it going. Believe me, it's much, much easier to maintain, for a variety of reasons than a 'J', not the least of which (by far) is the fact that it carries an Flight Engineer. Reliability is everything when you really, really need those stores in a particular place asap. It's no good having a really great looking 'J' stuck on the tarmac at the main base with a flight management computer that won't pass it's IBIT, and therefore can't fly!!
The very same goes for the C17, it really needs a B747-300 flight deck and operating systems, without the FADEC and all the computing systems that make it go, it may not be quite as efficient, but it will be much more reliable with a Flight Engineer when it matters.
A single guy with an automatic weapon a mile off the end of the runway can be having a lucky day and take out a 'black box' that will ground the airplane until a spare is located, and that's not helpful in demanding times.
All these C130J and C17 airplanes are a 'peacetime' fleet!!
The acronym KIS comes to mind here!
