When in development the C17s were seriously late, and incredibly over-budget.
Luckily the USAF stuck with it and now, 10+ years on it is a wonderful AT asset.
Provided the A400 project is continued and not de-railed by speculation and suspicion, it too will be a wonderful AT asset.
(RS-30. It isn't a money pit for the customers either, seeing at it is a FIXED PRICE contract
. It may well be a money pit for Airbus, but that's another, corporate matter and has no bearing on the MRTT/FSTA project. That project is in limbo because of nothing other than political inertia.)