China Attracts Western Pilots and Technicians in Mass: 'Leveraging Private Companies and Offering Lucrative Incentives'

On Friday, Five Eyes intelligence officials warned that China is aggressively recruiting former and current Western military personnel to strengthen its military capabilities. China is particularly focused on hiring fighter pilots and technicians, allegedly using foreign private companies to conceal its involvement.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), which is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), released a joint warning from the Five Eyes on Friday, saying that "China's efforts to hire former and current Western military personnel to train the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have evolved." "The PLA is actively recruiting personnel from Western militaries to address its weaknesses and train pilots, among other purposes," said Michael Casey, NCSC Director, in a statement. "Today's announcement with our Five Eyes partners is intended to highlight this ongoing threat and deter former and current Western military personnel from engaging in activities that put their colleagues at risk and undermine national security," he added.

U.S. officials have long believed that China has been able to build advanced fighter jets using stolen American technology, but that their pilot skills are lagging behind. According to The New York Times, however, U.S. officials are concerned that China could strengthen its air force by actively recruiting Western pilots. The Financial Times reported that “China is also seeking to gain knowledge of Western advanced fighters and air tactics, including those in the Taiwan Strait, as part of their training."

According to the NCSC, China is using private companies to recruit Western military personnel, and these companies conceal their ties to China while offering large sums of money to the military personnel. They are approaching the personnel through headhunting emails, online recruitment platforms, and other channels. A senior U.S. official told Reuters that "some Western pilots are taking these offers, lured by the large sums of money and the chance to fly China's advanced fighter jets."

In September of last year, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Q. Brown, Jr., expressed his concern that “some foreign companies doing business with the Chinese government are recruiting military personnel from a wide range of specialties who have been trained by the United States and NATO.” He added, “U.S. military personnel who have been scouted by private companies with ties to the Chinese government are being used to train PLA instructors, and they are compromising U.S. national security and putting U.S. service members and the nation at risk.”

China's recruitment of Western military personnel came to light in September 2022 when it was revealed that the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) had hired over 20 former Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, and British Army fighter pilots to train PLA pilots. Following this revelation, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed sanctions on Chinese and Kenyan, Laotian, Malaysian, Singaporean, South African, and Thai entities involved in recruiting former and current U.S. military personnel. The U.K. has also amended its national security law to make it possible to prosecute former pilots who shared sensitive military information.