[Paleo Conservative]

How much would a realistically priced A400M cost compared to a C-17?

[Spktyr]

No comparison. The A400M is a bit bigger than a C-130J, but smaller than the C-17 by a significant margin.

[RayChuang88]

At the rate things are going the Europeans ought to seriously look at dropping the A400M and just buy 180 C-17's built to European specifications (e.g., drogue-and-probe in-flight refueling and Rolls-Royce RB.211-535E4 engines). After all, the Royal Air Force "bit the bullet" and bought the CFM56-powered E-3 Sentry when the BAe Nimrod AEW. 3 proved to be unworkable.