I thought we were discussing the recent gearbox issue, not whether we should buy the damn@d thing or get something else, since we've already bought it and all? 1 point to Heathrow Harry as we enjoyed his interjection. You have the topic, 25 seconds left...
I think the A400M has a fine gearbox. Sadly, a few components in half of them (the gear boxes are handed and apparently only one hand has the problematic gears) apparently suffer from faulty heat treatment, limiting their life. Since its a service life issue not a safety of flight issue it won't affect deliveries, but that means an expensive fix later on. Who pays for that fix? I don't know, but if the contract was written correctly, Airbus/Safran will have to pay.