Commentary
China is training its air force pilots in South Africa by using former French pilots, according to a new report. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) uses a subsidiary and partner of its largest aerospace-defense contractor, Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), to do the job.
AVIC purchased and partners with South African pilot training companies and French pilots who have access to fighter jets from the South African air force, and who secretly train in China on Chinese jets, the report says.
On May 23, Intelligence Online published details of the South Africa and Chinese operations and the “renegade Western pilots” who assist the PLA against the wishes of authorities in the United States and France….