Thanks for all the background info on the MSP. I'm totally clueless on that system. Sounds interesting, especially the airbags. Are the airbags inflated before or after extraction? I'm guessing after. I know reefed mains have been used by USAF to extract and recover Type V platforms at low altitude, but that is not MAC's preferred method. I'm not sure why, but I believe it's because of too many bad experiences with the reefed mains combination.
As for the A400 to Africa, A400 has not yet reached operational status so it would seem extremely unlikely to be deployed. And yes, C-17 and A400 are very different with each designed to do different missions. I'm very familiar with the C-17 mission set, but not so with the A400. That's why I'm asking. Would a Mali type mission be in the A400's mission set? Or would that be more of a "strategic" mission with the A400 more optimized for a "tactical" mission? Perhaps another way of saying that is maybe the A400 is intended to be more of a Herc on steroids, rather than a scaled down Globemaster. .