Brumby
Major
There is no official claim, just leaks. The 15T number came because the person who described the J-20 as 16T class described the F-22 as 20T class, so there was the assumption that when he says "class," be means less than, so up to 15.99T was the interpretation. However, the next person said that the weight with AL-31X is just under Su-27 empty weight (16.38 tonnes) and with WS-10X is just over Su-27 empty weight, meaning it is around 16.4T. Then, after a long while, the third person said that those who wanted the J-20 to be in the 16T range will be disappointed to learn that it is now 17.5 tonnes in production form. So I believe the last number, 17.5 tonnes. I'm not sure which big Shrimp it was but I think it was a fellow who worked in the WS-10 factory.
You did not understand Brat correctly. He said it's basically not possible to achieve a 40% reduction in these parts based on his limited understanding of 3D printing. And that's actually the less ignorant claim; his other claim is that regardless of what Chengdu or AVIC or any PICTURES say, welding and machining are still the dominant standard used for manufacturing the load-bearing components of the J-20. He just knows that from "experience." LOL
There are no qualified "experts" who claim a 19 ton weight in the J-20 unless you count those people who said J-20 is likely a 75 foot long bomb truck as experts. There are only insiders, one who says that the jet is in the 16 tonne-range after interviewing AVIC (just under the Su-27), and another who said that the weight had increased to 17.5 tonnes.
The 19 tonne figure is completely fictitious, fabricated by people "eye-balling" the aircraft. They used to say they eyeball it at 21 tonnes, and then when leaks came out that it was in the 16-17.5 tonne range, they thought they'd average their eyeball guesstimate with the leaked number or some other equally nonsensical way of calculation to arrive at 19 tonnes.
Which Chinese experts claimed J-20 is 19T? The "official" weight claims of J-20 is 16T. I've read 15T in some places in the past. Literally no one of any supposed importance have mentioned 19T.
There is no official claim, just leaks. The 15T number came because the person who described the J-20 as 16T class described the F-22 as 20T class, so there was the assumption that when he says "class," be means less than, so up to 15.99T was the interpretation. However, the next person said that the weight with AL-31X is just under Su-27 empty weight (16.38 tonnes) and with WS-10X is just over Su-27 empty weight, meaning it is around 16.4T. Then, after a long while, the third person said that those who wanted the J-20 to be in the 16T range will be disappointed to learn that it is now 17.5 tonnes in production form. So I believe the last number, 17.5 tonnes. I'm not sure which big Shrimp it was but I think it was a fellow who worked in the WS-10 factory.
So the basis of your claim of "official" is the qualified "expert" who supposedly worked in the WS-10 factory. Janitor maybe? Btw how is WS-10 connected to classified data on J-20? You guys stretch the meaning of flexible argument when it suits. Lol.