SAC's design proposal for J-XX program was originally a tri-plane setup, including both tailplanes and canards. However, it was very complicated in terms of flight control software design, and still inferior in performance (RCS, supercruise and manoevurability) compared to CAC's J-20 design.
"
huzhigeng :【至于沈阳的那个落选的三翼面雪HU,个子太大,全机重量也大,又长又细,飞控极度复杂,超巡还比不上成都的,隐身性能也比不上成都的(双三角翼对影身还是有些影响的)。机动性双方各有千秋,成都的瞬盘和稳盘相当出色,能量机动更强,所以还加了个大边条,配合YA子,在加莱特和DSI两者选择方面,成都的可调DSI,比不可调的加莱特进气道更先进(601的专家现在也在611所)】"
After losing to CAC, they got another project under their belt which is to design a near 4th Gen (准四
. The requirement was multi-role as opposed to J-20's air superiority. It would be cheaper to produce than J-20 with a conventional layout (CARET inlet), even slightly bigger than Su-27. So no, it is actually bigger than J-20. In short, a larger aircraft that is cheaper to produce than J-20, with greater multi-role capability but inferior in A2A aspect.
Those are Huzhigeng's words. The plane might just be J-16 according to him.
"到时候你看看是不是。。。时间能证明一切。急什么。。。。我到要看看歼8X2是不是他们说的国产板的苏30MKK。。?你还当601所和沈飞是FC。。。。。。601脑子有病也不会去搞一个三十年前的东西。。你当11BS是干什么的??11BS可比苏30MKK强多了。"
Anything else is pure speculation. Straight from his mouth:
Ñ°ÕÒ601ËÄ´úµÄÔ´Á÷¡ª¡ª´Óºú×Ó¸ùµÄ±¬ÁÏ˵Æ𣨺ú×ÓÔٴγöÏÖ,ӦȺÖÚÒªÇóÈ¡ÏûÔĶÁȨÏÞ£© - µÚ2Ò³ - ¿Õ¾ü°æ - ³¬¼¶´ó±¾Óª¾üÊÂÂÛ̳
I especially pay attention to this quote: