I get what you're saying, Ken, but that wasn't quite what I meant. France has used their assets where they were required rather than because they have just bought them and want to show them off - your point, I know. There have been lots of occasions when countries a bit further west have been very keen to get their shiny toys into a punch-up to justify the purchase, continued support and additional spending. I have been there when such discussions took place - and not necessarily for new, shiny jets.
F-22 didn't need to be deployed in the early years and there may have been reasons not to. That said, I take your point that it wasn't sent to a sandpit just to justify its purchase.
But my real point was that the French don't need to deploy A400 into short/rough field ops simply to justify the purchase. It's simply a different culture. If French authorities were required to justify all their spending, there might be another revolution.
Last edited by Courtney Mil; 27th May 2015 at 14:40.