US General Warns Former NATO Pilots to Avoid China-Backed Aviation Companies

Former Western military aviators are being recruited by China, putting their safety at risk while revealing valuable military tradecraft to the Chinese regime.

A F-35 fighter jet taxies out for a training mission at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, on March 15, 2017. George Frey/Getty Images

U.S. Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, who oversees allied air forces in Europe and Africa, has warned former North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pilots against working for Chinese-backed aviation companies.

“Once you fly on our team, even after you hang up your uniform, you have a responsibility to protect our tactics, techniques, and procedures,” Hecker said, according to a Feb. 28 statement on the U.S. Air Forces in Europe website.

Hecker’s announcement follows a bulletin issued from the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) last year, which confirmed that the Chinese military has been actively targeting former and current NATO service members, as well as individuals from other Western nations, to strengthen its military capabilities.

The report specified that China was using Chinese and South African private fronts to hire Canadian, French, German, British, Australian, and U.S. ex-military aviators.

The report further noted that the Chinese regime entices pilots with lucrative contracts, telling them they will fly “exotic jets” while providing vague details about the actual clients.

The DNI identified the Test Flying Academy of South Africa, Beijing China Aviation Technology Co., and Stratos, among others, as key players in the scheme.

According to Brigadier General Amy Bumgarner, who heads up the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, these practices provide China military insights into “Western military talent” while risking the safety of the employed former servicemen and their colleagues who are still serving.

The United States and its allies have been battling this issue for years.

In 2022, 55-year-old Daniel Duggan, a former U.S. Marine pilot, was arrested in Australia for violating the U.S. Arms Export Control Act. He faces a possible 60 years in prison.

A naturalized Australian citizen of 13 years, Duggan was accused of training Chinese pilots through the Test Flying Academy of South Africa and was kept in custody until an Australian judge approved his extradition to the United States in December 2024.

In June 2023, German defense minister Boris Pistorius addressed his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu, directly at the Singapore Shangri-La Dialogue security conference. German media reported Pistorius telling Li that the practice of employing former German pilots was to be “stopped immediately.”

According to the U.S. Air Forces in Europe, the United Kingdom and Belgium enacted legislative measures in 2023 and 2024 to increase penalties against service members who provide defense services to foreign militaries, while Germany updated its defense laws accordingly this year. Other NATO members are reportedly considering similar actions.

Hecker indicated that he welcomes these measures and sees them as “proof that allies will seek to hold individuals accountable when they compromise the safety of our teammates by pursuing employment backed by our adversaries.”

Bumgarner mirrored these sentiments. She said that alongside allied law enforcement and counterintelligence organizations, her department would continue to pursue adversaries endangering the Air Force’s capacity to operate effectively.