A freighter target
 

See
http://www.airliners.net/discussions...d.main/217201/

My opinion?

Not impossible. Try to combine the good traits of An-225 and Airbus 380F.

200 tons of payload? An-225 has 250. 550 nm is long - An-225 covers just 2200 nm with full 250 t payload. But A380F gets pretty far at full 150 t payload.

Structural limitations? Ai-380 has MTOW of just 569 tons, and OEW like, 275 tons. An-225 has flown at 640 tons all up, and has mere 175 tons OEW. You could almost call Ai-380 overweight.

The cabin altitude requirement with BWB is problematic. You could stick to tube with wings.

Engine count? 4 is certainly doable. 2 probably not. But 3 could be feasible with off-shelf engines like GE90 or Trent 8104...

Wow if the OEW's listed are correct then can I say that the A-380 is actually a little 'fet'

No way AN225 OEW is 175t.
AN124 OEW is around 175-185t, and AN225 is basically enlarged AN124, 2 more engines, longer airframe, double tail, different wing etc. Although I cannot find any trustworthy reference to AN225 OEW but I estimate it is well well over 200t, and honestly I think it is probably closer to 300ish if I do a reverse engineering (200t payload range translated into flight hours, MTOW less 200t payload, less estimated fuel for quoted range + reserves, etc).

Indeed. The 175 t for An-225 must be in error, because 175 tons for An-124 is consistent with 170 t OEW for C-5.