Have to agree with Jig-P and ORAC here: if the UK wanted to get out of this, then the opportunity to do so was missed at the time of the renegotiation last Christmas when Airbus was in contractual default and we could've walked away without (economic) penalty.
I presume that for industrial and political reasons - quite apart from the fact that the A400M Atlas C. Mk. 1 could be very useful - it was decided not to cancel. But gawd help Airbus (not to mention the RAF) if it get further delayed, price increases, (or realistically, both
).
Never mind, we can always save some dosh by leaving refueling kit and DAS off - or in yukspeak, "fitted for but not with" - until we need it... because then we can just buy it off the shelf. Simples!
S41