It looks like that most of the visible evidence points to this being a civilian hull. Of course not 100% sure. But it points that way.
I think out of the recent pictures, only the suspected bow module looks a little bit strange... but like I said, there are various factors which may explain why it looks strange or why we do not see certain design features from the angle of the photo.
There are people in this forum who are anxious for a chinese-built aircraft carrier. But this one doesnt appear to be so.
Okay, first of all, you need to realize why there is now so much attention directed at this drydock. It isn't because everyone is anxious for a chinese carrier just for the hell of it. Please don't be so patronizing.
No, it's because the rumour cycle has led us here. You've been here long enough, but I'll describe it for you:
1: rumours of requirements and needs are discussed
2: rumours of research and development towards a final product occurs
3: rumours of advanced development and early construction of the product occur (including who/where the manufacturer is)
4: early physical (usually photo) evidence of a product emerge
5: clear photo evidence of a product allows for positive verification
This pattern can be applied for a variety of products, from J-20, Y-20, destroyers... and yes, the carrier.
Right now I think we are at stage 4, where we're collecting early photo evidence, but have not yet reached stage 5. So that is why DL is being watched so carefully. If we did not go through stages 1-3 then we would not be bothering with stage 4 and 5.
It may turn out that this ship we're seeing isn't military... but until then, we are going to keep watching it very carefully.
....Second of all, you should consider just which pictures you're talking about. I will concede that the suspected bow module looks somewhat strange from the photo angle which it is taken at, but the rest of the large hull which has formed could very reasonably be a carrier... and in all photos, I do not see anything which definitively indicates the modules cannot be a carrier.
Again, I emphasize that for the purposes of our observation, it is important to consider whether any design features that look different to pictures of US carriers under construction, can be explained by any of the factors I mentioned in my previous posts. In other words, any differences that are observed are only really useful to us if they definitively indicate that the ship they are part of cannot possibly be a carrier.
