Remember that the A400M will replace smaller C-130s and C-160s in Europe. So there absolutely is a gain in strategic capabilities. The C-17 is too large and costly for most of the tasks the A400M was made for.
The A400 was designed to transport modern (that is 1990s/early 2000s) quick reaction forces. Heavy tanks were considered less important than they used to be in massive cold-war age conflicts. Other armoured vehicles have become heavier and more bulky than the ones the C-130 was designed for. Within Europe, heavy tanks will usually be transported by by train.
The A400M's range circle around Paris contains much of the French zone of influence in Africa. Heavy tanks aren't that important to the French strategy, less so in Africa.
The A400M also carries larger helicopters than the C-130. French Tiger attack helicopter in Afica transported by an A400M:
Première : Un A400M Atlas rapatrie un hélicoptère Tigre du Sahel - Air&Cosmos
Originally Posted by
KenV
What kind of stuff do the European armies have that are just a little too big for C-130, but still small/light enough for an A400?
Bradley, VBCI, Puma, Boxer, Stryker with slat armour, M109, NH-90, Blackhawk, Tiger AH, Apache ...
You'll find much of this information at the Airbus web site:
Military Aircraft Airbus DS | A400M
Even the US army has some of that stuff.
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.o...iftMarket.aspx
Originally Posted by
VX275
However, when I questioned it with the SME from Boscombe who attended the meetings where it was decided he replied along the lines of "The Germans want to reinvade Russia."
Funny. At the same time it's too small (for heavy tanks required for a huge invasion) and too large (for peace-loving Central Europeans supposed to stay at home and build family cars).
Originally Posted by
BEagle
And it's NOT American!!
It's built in Europe and it was also designed to create jobs there, but dozens of the suppliers are American.