They need to get flying boom asap. Wonder if that’s an improvement on J-20A/S.
Flying boom is really only a benefit for refuelling large, less manoeuvrable aircraft like AWACS, MPA, transports and bombers etc. For fighter aircraft, there is no material improvement. What pumping speed benefits of a boom are more than offset by the ability to refuel multiple fighters at the same time.
As China’s large aircraft fleet increases, there may be a justification to add a boom to tankers so they can also refuel those aircraft faster and more effectively. But that would be adding a new refuelling system as opposed to the wholesale replacement of the existing one.
As drones proliferate, the drogue system may actually become even more dominant due to the increased number of aircraft that needs refuelling, so being able to refuel multiple aircraft at the same time will become a more important capability.
Additionally, with the proliferation of stealth and drones and super long range missiles (both air and ground launched), the viability of large traditional tankers might become increasingly questionable. Or at a minimum they will be pushed further and further away from the line of contact to avoid getting snipped. The obvious solution is already being field tested in stealth drone tankers. Such drone tankers will only be drogue systems.
