US warns elite pilots to be cautious about job offers from China

US intelligence officials are issuing a stern warning to former American “Top Gun” pilots: do not help China.

A new threat bulletin released Wednesday warns that China’s People’s Liberation Army “continues to target” current and former Western fighter pilots to help teach Chinese pilots how to master one of aviation’s most difficult maneuvers: taking off and landing. on aircraft carriers. In some cases, naval aviators may not know they are helping train pilots for China’s military.

The warning was released by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence and its closest intelligence partners: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The English-speaking allies are collectively known as the “Five Eyes.”

The Chinese military has struggled for decades to deploy a fleet of aircraft carriers that could compete with the US and project power across the world’s oceans. A major challenge has been training China’s jet pilots to take off and land on short, floating runways. But in recent years, Chinese military leaders have created a series of shell companies, some operating in South Africa, to recruit and pay former American F-18 jet pilots to teach Chinese pilots more sophisticated maneuvers. Such an instruction violates U.S. export laws, officials say.

By agreeing to train Chinese pilots, Western recruits “put their military colleagues at risk” and “may face legal dangers,” the bulletin warns. China’s military has already improved the skills of its own fighter pilots and also learned about Western air tactics, techniques and procedures.

The bulletin says the Chinese military has used personal acquaintances of military personnel to reach potential recruits and tried to lure pilots with “lucrative contracts and the opportunity to fly exotic aircraft.” The offers sometimes obscure the fact that the Chinese military is the end customer of their experience, the bulletin says. Former fighter pilots from the US, Canada, France, Germany, UK and Australia were hired to train Chinese pilots.

By sounding the alarm, intelligence agencies hope to prevent other Western fighter pilots from being seduced by the money and the opportunity to fly fighter jets again.

“To overcome its shortcomings, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has aggressively recruited Western military talent to train its airmen, turning to private companies around the world that hide their ties to the PLA and offer recruits salaries exorbitant”, says Michael C Casey, the director. of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center, which is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and works to prevent adversaries from infiltrating American spy agencies.

A former US Navy fighter pilot named Daniel Duggan was arrested in Australia in 2022 for allegedly violating export laws by training Chinese military pilots in South Africa on how to land on aircraft carriers. Duggan denied the allegations. On May 24, an Australian magistrate ruled that Duggan can be extradited to the US to face the charges.