C17's to be kept and enlarged?
Janes Online has a report with an Army brigadier who has confirmed that the RAF will keep 4 C17's and expand to around 10/11 over the next few years.
I am not sure of copyright issues - this is part of the whole report
"In a key development, Brig Bounsall suggested that the UK will not only retain, but also expand its current inventory of four C-17 strategic transports, and proceed with its planned £2.3 billion ($3.7 billion) purchase of 25 Airbus Military A400M tactical transports. Under previous plans, the C-17s - leased from Boeing under an approximately £770 million deal to expire in late 2009 - were to have been replaced by the smaller aircraft from 2010. These were to have been augmented by the RAF's current fleet of 25 C-130J transports.
The loss of the C-17s - which have a much greater lift capacity and range than the A400M - would have dealt a heavy blow to the UK's ability to rapidly deploy large equipment over long distances. Other ministry sources now suggest, however, that a fleet of 11 C-17s could be acquired for use by two squadrons until 2025-30. "We have made a heavy investment in the C-130J and C-17, and they simply are too costly to replace," said Brig Bounsall, who added that the A400M is also needed to meet RAF requirements
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