Beijing: China’s Navy is facing a shortage of fighter jet pilots these days and this is being said by quoting analysts in the media there, not us. China’s Navy, considered the world’s second most powerful army, is struggling these days to meet the growing demand for fighter jet pilots. According to the report in the Chinese magazine Ordnance Industry Science Technology, the Navy of the People’s Liberation Army has intensified fighter jet pilot training programs in the decade since the commissioning of its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. But the lack of trainers for fighter jet pilots has hindered progress.
Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier Fujian began sea trials last week. The PLA requires at least 200 qualified carrier-based fighter jet pilots to operate 130 ship-borne aircraft. Fujian is equipped with advanced electromagnetic catapults, similar to the US supercarrier Gerald R. Ford. While China’s first two carriers had ski-jump designs, the Navy would have to master a new aircraft launch and recovery system.
“It’s fraught with challenges because aircraft design and pilot training is one of the most difficult and complex core techniques in the world, which no one will share with you,” Lee said. PLA Navy pilots use the Chinese-built JL-9G, a single-engined double-seat aircraft that first appeared in 2011 as a carrier-trainer variant, but was used for emergency landings on the flight deck. Cannot be used to emulate, as it has flaws. Like it’s very light and very slow. Ordnance Industry Science Technology said in a report on September 25, 2012, marking the 10th anniversary of the commissioning of Liaoning, that those flaws limited it to land-based simulated carrier training.
