It seems strange that the usual cry of less platforms and common training and maintenance doesn't occur when a purely political decision foists an unwanted aircraft on the RAF.
Not entirely correct - whilst the choice was political a 2nd type bigger than the Herc was required and whilst crab air may well have prefferred the C17 it would still have resulted in a split fleet of Hercs + other
And before usual suspects tell me how much the RAF love it and what it can do. What do you expect them to say? And of course they will make it work, they are professionals, almost military like. That doesn't change the fact it wasn't wanted or needed.
Firstly it was wanted and needed - in as much as an aircraft to fulfill strategic requirement see above
Once again, if the C-17 is so bad and the A-400 so wonderful, why do the French need RAF C-17 support?
Nobody has said the C17 is bad - it is however very big, heavy and expensive.
The French required UK C17 support because neither it or the UK had brought the A400 into service
Whilst many criticisms can be levelled at the A400M - Its crap because nobody used it before it was built seems more than a tad frivolus.
The C-17 does strategic airlift, a capability the French don't have organically.
The A400M does tactical airlift and can only do strategic airlift poorly. However, C-17 needs a proper runway and is too fast for effective paradrops, making it a dirt poor tactical airlifter.
I would disagree to an extent - certainly in a US context it isnt strategic- but for the rest of NATO it is probably big enough and has sufficient range at high weight to fullfill that role.
I would argue The bigger issue for the UK is the loss of the mighty deathstar- which did the strategic lifting - because the replacement doesnt have a gurt big door and is rather more limited in cargo bulk as a result (offset i suppose to an extent by A400)
The C17 was only ever introduced to UK service to fill the bigger than herc gap on a temporary basis as a400 wasnt ready.
It could be argued then that the UK didnt need C17 either A400 is sufficient for all its requirements
The plan was 25 C130 and 25A400 we now have 3 types - which leads to finger pointing at A400 - when really the C17 is the plus 1.
If the C17 is required then we need to accept its 3 types in service - at least short to medium term.
Does the C17 get used for anything in UK service that the A400M wouldnt be able to fullfill ?