"Grant" wrote in message

"Defender in Tas" wrote in message
om...
Of course, another issue is that to make up for the
lesser range of new aircraft we will need more refuelling aircraft
than the 3-5 we are currently planning to buy. The replacement for
the C-130H should be a new aircraft with dual tanker / air lift
capabilities - Airbus may have the running on this one.

Nice post and I can understand where you are coming from.

However, a little more think tank time would be needed to replace the
C130H with an Airbus. Do you really think that an aircraft like the
Airbus could operate in the same areas as a truck like the Hercules?
Maybe. Maybe not. I seriously doubt it though.

"The Airbus" covers a pretty wide range of aircraft. I rather suspect he
was talking about the A400M. Granted, it's years from firts flight, much
less deployment, but the A400M fits a niche rather akin to the C-130

http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/fla/

--
Tom Schoene Replace "invalid" with "net" to e-mail
"If brave men and women never died, there would be nothing
special about bravery." -- Andy Rooney (attributed)