Ex-UK Fighter Pilots Training ‘Chicoms’ to Kill US, Allied Pilots for $280K

In an egregious breach of national security, up to 30 former British Royal Air Force fighter pilots, as well as other branches, and ex-military pilots from Canada and Australia, have been lured to China to train the Communist Chinese (Chicoms) how to shoot down U.S. and allied pilots.

The price to betray your country and aid the enemy? Well, apparently it is £250,000 (pounds) a year, or $280,000.

The recruitment program by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) reportedly began in 2019, dipped during the pandemic, then ramped up once COVID restrictions were lifted in China.

According to the Daily Mail:

The shocking recruitment programme will be confirmed today in a rare Ministry of Defence ‘threat alert'. It comes as the UK redesignates China from ‘systemic competitor' status to a ‘threat' to British interests.

An official said last night: ‘Serving and former advanced jet pilots are being openly head-hunted to train People's Liberation Army (PLA) pilots in China.

These fighter pilots are being used to help understand how Western jet fighters and pilots operate, key intelligence which would be vital in the event of any conflict with the U.S., U.K. and its allies, such as over Taiwan.

Former U.K. defense intelligence officer Philip Ingram said: “This is a potentially massive counter-intelligence issue.”

He added: “I think the pilots are… misguided, greedy and naive and now a threat to national security.” (RELATED: Air Force Bans Use of ‘Mom and Dad')

The Chicoms use a private flight training school in South Africa, Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) as an intermediary to avoid the British security services.

The Daily Mail reports that:

The TFASA has made offers to RAF Typhoon, Jaguar and Tornado pilots to relocate to China and become PLA instructors, according to Western officials. UK military helicopter pilots have also been approached.

Pilots of Harrier Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing (V/STOL) attack aircraft and helicopters have also been recruited. (RELATED: British Royal Air Force Pauses Job Offers to White Recruits, Prompting Senior Official's Resignation)

China is reportedly extremely keen to recruit current or recent pilots of the U.K.'s advanced F-35 stealth fighters, which it shares with NATO allies, but The Mirror noted that “Authorities do not think anyone skilled in flying the F-35B has been recruited.”

And while sources do not think any pilots working in China have breached the U.K.'s ‘Official Secrets Act,' one official said: “We're taking measures to dissuade current and ex-pilots from being recruited.”

Meanwhile, former and serving Brit pilots are being told not to disclose sensitive information, in an attempt to ‘mitigate risk' of these schemes. But in its ‘Threat Alert,' the Ministry of Defence also said: “We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes.”

The BBC reported a Ministry of Defense spokesman as saying: “All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act, and we are reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements across Defence, while the new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges – including this one.”

“The National Security Bill will create tools to tackle contemporary security challenges – including this one.”

The Mirror quoted Armed Forces Minister James Heappey as saying:

We have approached the people that are involved and been clear with them that it is our expectation that they would not continue to be part of that.

And we are going to put into law that once people have been given that warning, it will become an offence to then go forward and continue with that training.

He added: “Don't go and train foreign Air Forces without checking with the MOD whether they're a foreign Air Force they want to see you train. That would be a pretty good rule.”

Heappey said the U.K. “must change the law” to ensure pilots did not pass on intelligence to China in the future.

U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, who is expected to designate China as a “threat” in an updated version of a defense and foreign policy review, promised “decisive steps” to stop such headhunting and “protect our national security.”

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had earlier designated Communist China as a “systemic competitor.”

As Christopher Burgess, who served 30+ years within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and co-wrote the book “Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost, Preventing Intellectual Property Theft and Economic Espionage in the 21st Century,” noted:

Perhaps it is time to remind those who have taken oaths of secrecy that the oath is a lifetime oath and not one which is bracketed by one's years of service. China will use every arrow in its offensive quiver to acquire knowledge of western strategy and tactics, the very ballsy overt recruitment of western pilots serves two purposes.

First, it accomplishes the strategic goal in a straightforward manner. Western pilots jump at pay packages which far exceed what beginning commercial pilots receive, even those with years of cockpit experience. The second reason is more subtle. But it is the equivalent of sticking a sharp stick in the eye of the west by highlighting that loyalty and the moral dilemma is just a large paycheck away.

ALD

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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