China recruiting US fighter pilots to boost air defence: US intelligence

The Five Eyes bulletin added that the Chinese recruitment efforts seem to be targeting current and former military pilots from Five Eyes countries and those from France and Germany

The US and some of its intelligence allies on Wednesday released a report stating that China has been actively recruiting fighter pilots to strengthen its air defence abilities and add more intricate tactics to counter the West, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

The Five Eyes issued a report warning that China has used these pilots to train its fighter pilots in a better way while gaining insights into internal workings and training of the Western air.

'Five Eyes' is a security alliance formed after World War II, comprising the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It monitors the global threat landscape, including events such as the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in West Asia, Russia's military offensive in Ukraine, and what they refer to as China's unprecedented global espionage campaign.

The appointment of these pilots is being done through private companies based in South Africa and China by giving hiked salaries, leveraging personal acquaintances, professional networking sites and online job platforms, which similarly obscure any links to the Chinese government or military, VOA reported.

"We're issuing this joint bulletin today because this is a persistent threat that continues to evolve in response to Western countermeasures. Like any illicit enterprise that seeks to conceal its activities, there have been efforts to incorporate entities [companies] in different locations under different names" an official with the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center said.

"It's critical that we keep our current and former service members informed about this threat, which is directly targeting them," the official added.

The Five Eyes bulletin added that the Chinese recruitment efforts seem to be targeting current and former military pilots from Five Eyes countries and those from France, Germany and other Western nations.

However, the Chinese Embassy in Washington declined to comment on these allegations about efforts by the PLA to hire Western fighter pilots, as reported by VOA.

It further stated that the British defence officials had previously warned that Chinese efforts to recruit retired members of the British Royal Air Force started in October 2022.

However last year, the US placed restrictions on 43 Chinese entities to recruit and hire Western fighter pilots.

Such entities included a flight school in South Africa, and a security and aviation company founded by former US Navy SEAL operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kenya and Laos.