C130 J built and certified as civil aircraft before turning them into military?
VX275. Just when and why did the RAAF wish to "walk away" from the C130J and why would the UK be so desperate that they needed to talk the Australian government to stick with the C130J? We only ordered the traditional 12 of model. (12 C130A - E - H previously)
The RAAF were the first non-American operator of the C130 when the C130A entered RAAF service in late 1958. I doubt that anything the UK had to say would influence the RAAF decision on whether or not to procure the C130J. The C130 is the ONLY military aircraft still in production, albiet much modified, after more than 50 years of service so I guess, Rengineer, that is one good reason to continue with the type even for another 40 years. The A400M may well eventually be shown to be a very good aircraft, if it survives in production for long enough. With fewer than 200 ordered, almost all by European operators, the future of the A400M is hardly assured.