Lt. Col. Masro Bin Kaliwon of the Royal Malaysian Air Force A400M Team shows off their first aircraft at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition held in Malaysia last week.
Life Cycle Cost was not a consideration in the earlier contest, in which the Airbus A-330 MRTT was selected over the IL-78, before the tender was withdrawn. This time the factor is expected to be a key determinant of the acquisition cost of the two aircraft.