Yes. After launching a large number of planes at once, and later landing those planes, the most efficient place to park those planes is on the bow. There they are least in the way of a second strike group being prepped and thus using up a lot of the deck area. Placing them in the hangar straight away would interfere with the prep too much.
No to the jet blast.
I think the predication of the crane should be accurate, given the location of it on 17. But parking spots for 18 is fewer than 17, which should not be the case if 18 can carry more planes.
Yes there were rumors from some reliable sources (including people who work in China's shipbuilding industry ) that Dalian is building a carrier (either a second type 003 or a new type 004) and IMO these rumors are probably correct.
They might be already building the modules but haven't put it on a drydock yet. If it true it might be another Type 003.
Simmons is such a dumbass. Instead of using the topics of carriers and US-Russo Relations to provoke a split between Beijing and Moscow, he should have asked questions on Sino-Indian and Sino-Vietnamese territorial disputes, as Hanoi and New Delhi had traditionally been Moscow's quasi allies. Or since Putin constantly mentions "land border," Simmons could have raised Russians' fear of Chinese immigrants in Siberia. Simmons completely failed to play the cards/issues that could have compelled Putin to say something negative about China. Clearly this guys does not know anything about Russo-Chinese Relations. Also, Russians have always see themselves as a land power, so adversaries' carriers do not matter much to them beside being real time targets.
Can't really expect much from someone who just regurgitates whatever's on his dossier. Calling someone like that a journalist would've been an insult to the profession, if the profession hadn't long been an insult in and of itself already.
