Awesome.
Every time I see a pic of that plane it just looks so godly oversize... Its like an f-22 went on a cycle of nandrolone and testosterone. But as I understand its that big because its an uber long range power projection tool.
Considering the aircraft is basically meant to be an F-22 with longer range... it shouldn't be a surprise.
If anything, when thinking about the westpac threat environment that both sides will face and the likely dearth of air refuellers and forward air bases, imo it is the F-22 which looks small and under sized for that area of operation rather than J-20 as over sized.
The F-22 was designed for the NATO theater which is much smaller. A shame they could never get four tanks working on the F-22. FB-22-1 below would have been more useful for the Pacific theater.
Four EFTs would be helpful in enhancing ferry range to theatre, but I'm not sure about operating in theatre with EFTs during combat missions for a stealth aircraft.
J-20 can carry four EFTs and I would be surprised if it ever carries them outside of Chinese airspace defended by IADS during a high end conflict.
In any case, I think between the YF-22 and YF-23, the latter's greater size and longer range would've made it more suitable for the pacific theatre that we see now.
The J-20 IMO is very much the result of an aircraft that wants to be able to compete with F-22 as close as it can get in certain performance parameters while exceeding it in endurance and range.
