Multiple Nations Investigating China’s Efforts To Recruit Western Pilots
November 14, 2022 China, Military Aviation, Troubled Areas
STEFANO D'URSO
Western pilots approached with remunerative contracts to provide training to Chinese pilots.
After reports about British pilots being targeted by China trying to recruit them to train the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, more countries are now investigating reports about their pilots being approached with highly remunerative contracts for the same reason. A former U.S. Marine Corps pilot has been arrested after working for Chinese clients, and British pilots who accepted the contracts spied on China to provide intelligence back home, according to sources. But let’s see what this “spy story” is about in more detail.
As we have already reported, about 30 former British pilots, lured by sums of about $270,000 a year, have been recruited since the end of 2019, according to the information released to the press. Some of them are believed to have experience on aircraft no longer in service in the UK. An unnamed official told The Times that pilots were being approached by a third-party company in South Africa that had been tasked with finding individuals to train the People’s Liberation Army’s pilots.
The company appears to be named as the Test Flying Academy of South Africa, but it appears to have no connection to the South African government. The company later stated said its employees have been in “regular” contact with the UK Ministry of Defence, which “has not raised any issue regarding any aspect of the training provided by the company or its employees.”
https://theaviationist.com/2022/11/14/china-efforts-to-recruit-western-pilots/
