The Chinese military has reportedly enlisted former pilots from Western nations to help enhance its military’s fighter jet flying capabilities in case of a possible conflict with the United States (US).
Among other capabilities, the programme aims to improve the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) ability to fly aircraft from aircraft carriers, as per official documents, legal filings, emails, and sources familiar with the matter, claimed The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
According to flight histories of several pilots China had reached out to for the programme, at least four had experience flying F-35s—the US’ most advanced stealth fighter. The aircraft is deployed on the superpower’s aircraft carriers and is pitted against a Chinese stealth fighter known as the J-20.
China’s military sought to enlist veteran Western pilots into a program that aimed to improve its ability to fly planes from aircraft carriers, among other capabilities that could be useful in the event of a conflict with the U.S. https://t.co/4QGzPsByfa
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 15, 2022
The news comes after Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles announced last month that his department has launched an urgent investigation into laws governing retired military personnel after reports of former air force pilots being hired to train the Chinese military came to light.
Marles ordered the Senate review after reports from Sky News and the BBC claimed that a South African flying school was acting as a middleman for the PLA to recruit Australian, British, French, and New Zealand pilots to provide training with a lucrative offer of around $272,000. They added that about 30 British former fighter pilots are currently in China training PLA pilots.
In October, Former Australian Defence Minister and now-opposition leader Peter Dutton had claimed that his party had received information that two former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilots had been approached to participate in a program to train Chinese fighter pilots.
According to a 2017 indictment unsealed by a court in Washington last week, Daniel Edmund Duggan, an Australian citizen, "provided training to People's Republic of China military pilots" at a South Africa-based flight academy on at least three occasions between 2010 and 2012.
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) December 13, 2022
Following the reports, the United Kingdom said that it was looking to change its older laws to prevent former military pilots from training the Chinese military. Canada, too, is said to be looking into the matter.
Internal emails at the South African school seen by WSJ showed that other pilots who were approached had knowledge of sensitive military projects, including the “development of new planes, sensors and advanced weaponry.”
While it remains unclear if Beijing actually gained any expertise from the sessions, internal communications revealed that the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) had been regularly sending trainers to China for several months each year, for which the school received a payment of more than $12 million.
It was also revealed that the former US Marine had collaborated with several unidentified co-conspirators, including a Chinese national, a British national, and a South African national.
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) December 13, 2022
Although TFASA has admitted to recruiting former military pilots from Western countries to train the Chinese military, it has held the position that none of the training involved classified tactics. However, it did not reveal the details of its training.
Meanwhile, former US Marine pilot Daniel Duggan, arrested in Australia earlier this year, has been accused of breaking the country’s arms control law due to his involvement in such training.
Duggan’s indictment, which was released last week by the District of Columbia court, accused the veteran of providing military training to Chinese pilots through a South African flight school on three different occasions in 2010 and 2012.
It includes unnamed co-conspirators, including a South African national and a British national, who were executives of “a test flying academy based in South Africa with a presence in the PRC.” The PRC is short for China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
The indictment also lists a Chinese national who reportedly gathered military information for the PLA.
Duggan, who was arrested in October in Australia at the US government’s request, faces extradition to the US. Duggan’s lawyer, Dennis Miralis, has previously said that the US veteran will fight any extradition request.
The four charges against Duggan are: conspiring to defraud the US by attempting to unlawfully export defence services to China, money laundering, and two counts of violating the arms export control act and international traffic in arms regulations. He has pleaded not guilty to them all.
He reportedly didn’t seek government approval to provide the training despite the US State Department informing him as far back as 2008 that he required authorisation to train a foreign air force.