China’s new generation of military pilots starts training

More than a thousand new cadets have been inducted into China’s Air Force Aviation University.

They’ll go on to be the next generation of pilots, and fly the J-20 jet fighter and Yun-20 transport aircraft.

During a ceremony on Friday, September 1, the PLA’s air force commander, Ding Laihang, inspected more than 2,000 trainee pilots, including the new recruits who come from 31 different provinces in China, and who were selected from 120,000 high school graduates who applied for the air force program.

In a speech, Ding said unprecedented changes had taken place in China’s air force, and he encouraged the new cadets to play their part in creating a more powerful Chinese air Force.

With the changing face of the Chinese air force, so too the training regimen for cadet pilots has been upgraded. Changes to education requirements, and earlier access to flight training, has dramatically shortened the training cycle of tomorrow’s pilots.