China’s navy looks to junior high schools to find pilots for its aircraft carriers

• About 4,500 boys aged 15 to 16 have been recruited for the PLA Navy’s youth aviation schools this month
• Those who qualify will join the fighter jet cadet programme, with the top students enrolling in a double degree at one of three Beijing universities

Why you can trust SCMP

61

14

China’s navy needs more fighter jet pilots for its growing fleet of aircraft carriers. Photo: Weibo

China’s navy is recruiting junior high school graduates as candidates for its fighter jet cadet programme as it tries to find more aircraft carrier pilots for its expanding fleet, according to state media.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy has recruited about 4,500 junior high school graduates from Shandong and Henan provinces and the city of Chongqing this month, official news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.

The students – boys aged 15 to 16 – will attend the PLA Navy’s youth aviation schools which were set up in 2015 in cooperation with some of the best high schools in the country. The navy draws on talent from the 14 schools for its aircraft carrier cadet pilot programme.

They will undergo three years of training in the aviation schools and those who qualify will go on to the PLA Naval Aviation University for pilot training. The top students will undertake double degrees within the aviation programmes at one of three prestigious Beijing universities – Peking, Tsinghua and Beihang, according to Xinhua.

It is unclear if this is the first year that students so young will attend the aviation schools. An earlier report from state broadcaster CCTV said the navy had been selecting high school graduates aged between 16 and 19 for the schools since 2020. The average age of the newest crop of cadet pilots is 20, much younger than in previous years.

00:10 / 00:20

Chinese navy practises aerial combat as it prepares its newest aircraft carrier for operations

Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said the approach aimed to find promising students with strong academic and physical abilities as the navy tries to meet the demands of its aircraft carrier projects.

“[This will] not only help the navy select potential cadet pilots for specific training as early as possible, but also reinforce young students’ aviation knowledge and related academic studies,” he said, referring to the double degrees.

“It also suggests that the PLA now demands better academic qualifications of its shipborne fighter jet pilots – like their Western peers, the US pilots who at the least have aviation-related degrees.”

The smart card tracking workers on China’s giant next-gen amphibious ship

25 Mar 2023

China’s fleet of aircraft carriers is growing, and it needs pilots. The third of the warships, the Fujian, was launched last June, with state media reporting that it will start sea trials this year.

The PLA Navy has started training its own pilots, rather than recruiting them from the air force, at the Naval Aviation University in Yantai, Shandong, which opened in 2017.