moosemaster - sorry but I have to disagree with most, if not all, of what you say.
C27 is too small all together - no, it's not. It would handle a huge chunk of the current C130 tasking in theatre when co-ordinated with sensible C17 usage.
C130J is too narrow - for what? I'll concede it's too narrow for FRES but then it's also too narrow for the Starship Enterprise...
C17 is too big for intra-theatre tac work - No it's not, one C17 is the right size for trash hauling tasks that would currently occupy several C130s at once.
I think there needs to be a long hard look at what we actually expect our AT (non-shiny) to do. The C17 is a very versatile tac/strat aircraft - they can deliver your FRES, tank, helicopter etc to pretty much wherever you need it. In sensible numbers too. An A400 might fit a FRES vehicle or two in it but what's the point? A C17 could deliver 3 LAVs + hod loads of troops whilst the A400 could put two in plus a couple of blokes to drive them.
I fail to see what scenario we are
realistically trying to accomodate here.
Herkman - not wishing to be contentious but I don't believe the C130K going out of service will have that big an impact on
day to day ops. There is the viewpoint that sustaining it may exacerbate future issues. One could argue that withdrawing it now might free up funding, hangar space, engineering manpower, crews and spaces on the Marshall's line to keep the
Js ticking over. As it stands at the moment I reckon we face the ungodly prospect of most of the C130 fleet,
Js and Ks, falling flat on their collective arses by 2012.