I dont know what to make of it. It appears that not even janes can say for sure at this point.
Looking at it, i see a opening in the hull where the "possible carrier" arrow is pointing. Is that normal in a carrier?
Take a look at kuznetzov under construction. How does the 2 hulls compare?
I think you're being needlessly pedantic... the kuznetsov in the picture is obviously in a later stage of construction compared to the carrier at DL -- give it another few months and the DL carrier will likely resemble the Kuznetsov in your picture.
As for "not even janes can say for sure" -- no, again, what was said is "
While a conclusive identification of the hull as an aircraft carrier cannot be made until work is observed on the upper decks and potential flight deck, the slow pace of assembly and outline suggests a military hull under construction"
In other words, we cannot as of yet positively ID it as a carrier, but many signs are pointing to it as such.
You're really on the wrong side of looking at things with this entire issue, you're focused on "is it possible this hull can be something else which isn't a carrier" rather than "is it possible for the hull to
not be a carrier".
The former is a rather broad question, because depending on the stage of a carrier's construction, obviously it may well "look" like any other large ship type in its early construction. The second is a much more precise question, because we are looking for things to
invalidate the hull's potential status as a carrier, which are much easier to identify even in early stages of construction, if it were there.
Of course, as of yet we have yet to identify anything that invalidates the hull's potential to be a carrier. Yes, that doesn't confirm the ship to be a carrier but we were never going to get it early on anyway.
