There’s a need for a utility transport down there in any case, so one might as well enable it to double up as a tanker. You get a much better tanker than a buddy tanking Typhoon, it doesn’t eat into your air combat assets, & it’s a fraction of the price, as the transport capability has to be there anyway.

That is, if you can station a KC-130J or an A400M with refuelling kit down there, instead of being stuck with a crazy contract which requires you to use an A330 supplied by AirTanker. 😡