But your point is well taken. Astute planners would have made a deal by offering 50% more just to tie it up.
As it is, the Chinese spent another $10 miiion towing it over to the shipyards and have spent tens millions since. But, if they do produce an operational carrier from it, they will have gotten a deal over producing one from scratch.
The costs will still mount as they will be spending hundreds of millions to billions on the aircraft and armamnet to outfit it.
Amazing pictures, someone put themselves at risk.
One picture I clearly remember -- not sure if it was from your site -- a scale aircraft carrier with planes on board, used inside one of their operations buildings, to figure how to position and move aircraft. It seems the ship was a fifty feet long or so, making each aircraft about a foot in size. That was the earliest picture I remember that showed their exact intentions.
How many infantry battalions could be transported in this rusting hulk?
Could an old aircraft carrier be converted easily into a troop carrier that is almost impossible to sink?
If you needed to get a large number of troops onto the shores of Taiwan, how would you do it?
I dont know, I'm just asking.