According to officials, retired pilots from British Royal Air ForceThey are recruited through third-party recruitment experts, including the South African Aviation Academy.
A defense source told the newspaper "telegraph" British, that while teaching is not classified as a major Aviation Among the state secrets, teaching how to fight is classified.
The source explained that the pilots who signed the Official Secrets Law are obligated to implement its provisions for life, and they will be prosecuted if a violation is verified.
He added that Chinese academies tried to entice current and more qualified personnel from the front lines of the British Air Force, to train personnel for flight and combat techniques.
For her part, she said, Flight Academy South Africa, which trains pilots and engineers from around the world: "No training involving covert tactics or other information, nor any frontline activities".
The academy stated that "None of its trainers possess any legally or operationally sensitive information relating to the national security interests of any country, whether it is from which its employees are from or in which it provides training".
British concern
The British government announced last week that it is taking "critical steps" Against Chinese efforts to attract former and current pilots in the British Air Force to train its military.
And while British soldiers periodically participate in training missions with armies foreign, except that any cooperation of former pilots with China, which London described as"first threat" For local and global security, it is a matter of grave concern.
A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense told AFP: "We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment programs to seek talent among current and former UK Armed Forces pilots to train personnel People’s Liberation Army".
British media reported that more than 30 former pilots had accepted offers worth more than 240,000 pounds ($273,750) and that many of the recruits were in their 50s and had recently left the British Air Force.
Reports stated that this Chinese strategy has been going on since 2019, but it has recently increased.
and benefits British Ministry of Defense as "Reconsider the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements"adding that all current and former members are subject to the Official Secrets Act which prohibits UK public sector employees from sharing state secrets with outside powers.
And the spokesperson indicated that "The new National Security Law will create additional tools to deal with modern security challenges, including this one".
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And issued British Defense Intelligence Last week, a warning that ex-military pilots have been lured into large sums of money to help train Chinese forces.
According to officials, retired pilots from British Royal Air ForceThey are recruited through third-party recruitment experts, including the South African Aviation Academy.
A defense source told the British newspaper, The Telegraph, that while teaching a specialty was not categorized Aviation Among the state secrets, teaching how to fight is classified.
The source explained that the pilots who signed the Official Secrets Law are obligated to implement its provisions for life, and they will be prosecuted if a violation is verified.
He added that Chinese academies tried to entice current and more qualified personnel from the front lines of the British Air Force, to train personnel for flight and combat techniques.
For her part, she said, Flight Academy In South Africa, which trains pilots and engineers from around the world, “there is no training involving covert tactics or other information, nor any front-line activities.”
“None of its trainers possesses any legally or operationally sensitive information related to the national security interests of any country, whether it is from which its employees are from or where it provides training,” the academy explained.
British concern
The British government announced last week that it was taking “decisive steps” once morest Chinese efforts to attract former and current British Air Force pilots to train its military.
And while British soldiers periodically participate in training missions with armies However, any cooperation of former pilots with China, which London described as the “number one threat” to domestic and global security, is a source of grave concern.
A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense told AFP: “We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment programs to search for talent among current and former UK armed forces pilots to train members of the British Armed Forces. People’s Liberation Army“.
British media reported that more than 30 former pilots had accepted offers worth more than 240,000 pounds ($273,750) and that many of the recruits were in their 50s and had recently left the British Air Force.
Reports stated that this Chinese strategy has been going on since 2019, but it has recently increased.
and benefits British Ministry of Defense It is “reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements”, adding that all current and former elements are subject to the Official Secrets Act which prohibits UK public sector employees from sharing state secrets with outside powers.
And the spokesman stated that “the new national security law will create additional tools to deal with modern security challenges, including this one.”
