An accidentally crashed JL-10 trainer jet has informed the west of Russian flight instructors collaborating with the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) to upgrade skills leading to flying the J-20. This is a critical point for the developments in Ukraine that have driven the two countries closer.
Russia, China Cooperation
The JL-10 jet that crashed last week is based on a Russian design. When Moscow is fighting in Ukraine, a viral video from China may have tipped off the west that Russian pilots are training Chinese aviators, reported the Eurasian Times.
Last April 23, a People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) supersonic jet trainer went down in Caolu Village, located in Yucheng County, Henan Province's Shangqiu City.
The plane crew safely parachuted before the crash and were located in a field, waiting for help. A post-crash video that went viral on social media raised questions if Russia was helping upgrade the pilot skills of the Chinese. Two pilots were seen in a field with minor injuries immediately after jettisoning from their plane, mention Youtube shorts.
One pilot, clothed in a Chinese air force outfit, has spoken with his commander on the phone in Chinese. A second pilot was thought to be a Caucasian with red hair who talked with an accent in English.
Reported a villager was recording and told by a foreigner to stop; he was a Russian flight instructor flying the JL-10 Trainer jet remarked the PLAAF. This was verified by western experts but no comment from China.
This comes as Russian troops push back against the Donbas' Ukrainian defenses. Although not tolerating the war and calling for a cease-fire, Beijing does not allow the US to pressure it to take the western side. All efforts to sanction and condemn the action of the invasion have only increased resolve to support Moscow.
Despite the claim by China not to accept any assistance from Russia was declared; the Russian pilots showed that Beijing could not care less for the west, noted the BBC.
PLAAF Resources
Based on the Russian Yak-130 trainer with foreign flight instructors to teach flying, they are not openly admitted and are a kept military secret.
Commentators claim that the People's Liberation Army's military forces are self-sufficient and do not need foreign training. But these Russian trainers have been teaching pilots on the advanced trainer jet for a year, revealed by a Chinese dissident to the Washington Times. This includes landing on aircraft carriers too.
An analyst connected to the US Air Force Aerospace Studies Institute, Derek Solen, remarked that JL-10 training would be for the J-20 stealth fighter later on.
The Mighty Dragon J-20, a 5th gen-fighter, is doing patrols in the East and South China Seas in the heating Indo-Pacific. The US Air Force Aerospace Studies Institute USAFASI concluded that Chinese instructors weren't enough.
It is a policy of the PLAAF for their new flight instructors to have experience in real-world missions; to teach effectively.
The first batch of trainees who flew on third-generation jets just got their grades on the first solo flight last January. PLAAF started a new training method via the Shijiazhuang Flight Academy in 2021, J-10s jets are used there.
One of the J-10 Trainer jets went down that exposed Soviet flight instructor use which the PLAAF kept secret; the west has something to consider with the J-20 used more, mentioned China Mil.
