I dont want to go OT, but i dont agree with this theory. Im not a naval engineer, but i think that when you change a large and complex component that connects with the rest of the ship like a catapult, you are bound to mess with the rest of the ship. A diferent type of catapult impacts the propulsion, which in turn impacts something (a lot) else, and so on. This is not an plane, which you can change avionics and even engines without a lot of problems. IMO, before you start to build something as complex as an aircraft carrier, you must know at least what the main components will be.
In this case they technically already know what the main components will be -- i.e.: the relevant subsystems for either an EM catapult or steam catapult. The question is whether the propulsion will be impacted at all, and as I wrote in my previous post this may or may not be the case, which will have consequences for whether they can start construction of the ship (especially its lower decks) before the catapult decision has been made.
Now, I personally do not strongly think this is necessarily the case (it seems like a bit of a stretch to me as well), but this is one of the explanations for how 002 construction can already have said to have begun despite the catapult not being selected yet.
Not necessarly. They may not have a dedicated R&D facility just to catapults, and just decided to add it to the training facilty.
No, I think that is quite unlikely.
R&D and prototype testing are the sort of thing you want to do at sites which are not very isolated, which have amenities and accessibility for scientists and researchers and engineers to work at for a prolonged period. At the very least, conducting very early stage R&D at a relatively isolated location like Huangdicun NATF is eyebrow raising to say the least.
If they really did want to conduct very early stage R&D, it would make much more sense to have a dedicated site to do it from instead of a NATF. Remember as well that this NATF is a busy and important training location as well, not exactly something whose purpose you want to complicate by doing early stage R&D at, if it can be done much more simply and less unobtrusively at other separate sites around the country. So do I believe the reason for having the catapults at the NATF is very much a deliberate decision made on the basis about the expected use and maturity of these catapults at such an operationally location.
And come on, kroko, I get that you're a skeptic towards almost all things PLA, but even you've been around here long enough to know that Chinese catapult R&D began many years ago and it makes no sense for R&D to only "begin" now...
