Ex-military pilots lured to China…..

[FD2]

From the Daily Moron:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... irmen.html

I do wish these papers would stop referring to any old fast jet pilot as a 'Top Gun' - I thought that was just a term that some of the better USN pilots were called at Miramar.

[TheGreenAnger]

From the Daily Moron:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... irmen.html

I do wish these papers would stop referring to any old fast jet pilot as a 'Top Gun' - I thought that was just a term that some of the better USN pilots were called at Miramar.

Of course the whole 'Top Gun' idea was designed by a Fleet Air Arm officer, and a South African, on secondment to the USA. Like you, I am sure Dick Lord, who used to live in Somerset West, now Woody's suburb, of choice in the Cape, would have disapproved of the misappropriation of the term, and the idea of a South African company and British pilots training a potential communist enemy.

Dick Lord

He was born in Johannesburg and attended Parktown Boys' High School.He joined the Royal Navy in 1958 and trained as an engineer at RNEC Manadon, before he qualified as a fighter pilot in 1959. Whilst serving in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, he flew Sea Venom and Sea Vixen aircradft and qualified as an Air Weapons Instructor. In 1968 Lord did a two-year exchange tour with the US Navy at NAS Miramar flying A-4 Skyhawks and F-4 Phantoms. There he wrote the USN Air Combat Manoeuvring Manual and his training methods were instrumental in the creation of ‘Top Gun’ in 1969 His theory was put into practice by other British pilots on exchange, or lent from UK-based training units, such as 764 NAS Air Weapons Instructors (AWI) Course at RNAS Lossiemouth. He completed tours of air warfare instruction flying Hunters from the naval air stations at Lossiemouth, Scotland and Brawdy, Wales.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Lord

[FD2]

I read a copy of his autobiography a couple of years ago - an inspirational man.

It's a pity the term has been appropriated to describe anyone who flies fast jets and as usual it's the MSM to blame. I note that ex-RN pilots have now also joined the 'nasty' people!

[Ex-Ascot]

[TheGreenAnger]

The biggest technical raid on another air force's assets I can think of was made by the RAAF on SAAF engineers, avionics specialists and the like after 1994, although of course Oz is an ally, and is known to throw a prawn on the barbie every so often, so not quite the same thing as cold fried Chinese rice at all.

Even the occasional ex SAAF would be female pilot made her home in Australia...

https://defencesa.com/news-events-and-m ... -industry/

[llondel]

Better hide that dosh well chaps as I'm sure HMRC will get hold of your names!

They just need to be careful about where they're domiciled during the time they're working over there and make sure they're out of the country for long enough. HMRC eventually loses interest if you're earning and living outside the UK, unlike the US IRS which screws its citizens wherever they live.

[FD2]

Retired RAF pilots will be prosecuted if they shared state secrets during China flying lessons

British defence intelligence warns that former military staff are being enticed with large sums of money to help train China’s forces
By Danielle Sheridan, Defence Editor 26 October 2022 • 8:02pm

RAF pilots will be prosecuted if they are found to have shared state secrets during China flying lessons, defence sources have warned.

British defence intelligence last week issued a rare threat alert warning that former military pilots were being enticed with large sums of money to help train China’s forces.

Officials said retired RAF pilots were being recruited through third-party head-hunters, including the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA).

A defence source told The Telegraph that while teaching the discipline of flying was not classified, teaching how to fight was.

“People going to foreign nations to fly is one thing, teaching how to fight is another,” they said, adding that signing the Official Secrets Act binds the signatories for life.

“If evidence was found that they were breaking the OSA we could prosecute,” they said.

While TFASA insisted no classified information has been shared, the source added: “The academy and Chinese have tried to entice current and more qualified individuals from the front line of the military to train their people. They might have been hoping in due course that they would.”
‘All training aspects and material are strictly unclassified’

On Tuesday, TFASA said it had been in contact with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for “many years” and the department is “fully aware of the nature of the company’s business”.

The school, which trains pilots and engineers from countries around the world, said: “All training aspects and material are strictly unclassified, and provided either from open source or the clients themselves.

“No training involves classified tactics or other information, nor any front-line activities.”

TFASA added that “none of its trainers are in possession of legally or operationally sensitive information relating to the national security interests of any country, whether those from where its employees are drawn or in which it provides training”.

The MoD previously said it was taking “decisive steps” to stop Chinese recruitment schemes targeting military pilots.

A spokesman said: “We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to head hunt serving and former UK armed forces pilots to train People’s Liberation Army personnel in the People’s Republic of China.

“All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act, and we are reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements across defence, while the new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges - including this one.”

[PHXPhlyer]

Former U.S. military pilot who worked in China arrested in Australia
Australian Federal Police arrested Daniel Edmund Duggan “pursuant to a request from the United States,” a police statement said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/form ... -rcna54252

A former U.S. military pilot and flight instructor who ran an aviation consultancy in China is in custody in Australia awaiting an extradition request from his homeland on an undisclosed charge, officials said Wednesday.

Daniel Edmund Duggan, who says he is a former U.S. Marine Corps major, was refused bail when he appeared last Friday in Orange Local Court in the New South Wales state rural town of Orange northwest of Sydney, court records show.

Australian Federal Police arrested him that day “pursuant to a request from the United States,” a police statement said.

“As the matter is before the courts, it would not be appropriate to comment further,” police and the Attorney-General’s Department said in identically worded statements.

Defense Minister Richard Marles told his department last week to investigate whether any former Australian military personnel had been recruited to work for the Chinese air force.

His move followed a report that up to 30 former British military pilots had been hired to train members of China’s People’s Liberation Army.

“I would be deeply shocked and disturbed to hear that there were personnel who were being lured by a paycheck from a foreign state above serving their own country,” Marles said in a statement.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said it was taking “decisive steps” to prevent Chinese attempts to recruit serving and former British pilots.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin was asked at his regular news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday to comment on a report of Duggan’s arrest amid investigations of pilots being hired to train China’s military.

Wang replied, “I’m not aware of the situation you mentioned.”

Duggan is scheduled to next appear in court in Sydney on Nov. 4, when he can apply for bail.


He is being held in custody under Section 15 of the Extradition Act that prevents a judge from releasing him on bail unless there are “special circumstances,” court documents show.

The charge that Duggan is to face remains sealed.

The U.S. Justice Department, which has 60 days from Duggan’s arrest to request his extradition, declined to comment in a statement.

The U.S. Embassy in the Australian capital, Canberra, also declined to comment.

Duggan said in his LinkedIn profile that since 2017 he had been general manager of AVIBIZ Limited, “a comprehensive consultancy company with a focus on the fast growing and dynamic Chinese Aviation Industry.” AVIBIZ is based in Qingdao, a city in eastern Shandong province.

Duggan said he spent 13 years in the U.S. Marine Corps until 2002. He became an AV-8B Harrier fighter pilot and an instructor pilot during his service.

He lived in Australia from 2005 and 2014, founding and becoming chief pilot of Top Gun Tasmania, a business based in Tasmania state that offered joy flights in a BAC Jet Provost, a British military jet trainer, and a Chinese military propellor-driven trainer, a CJ-6A Nanchang.

“These two planes are used to train air force pilots in combat and military maneuvers, and the Top Gun team ensures that participants experience the magnificent capabilities of these flying machines,” the business’s website said.

He moved to Beijing in 2014. It is not clear whether he continues to live in China or what he was doing in Orange when he was arrested.

Duggan’s lawyer, Dennis Miralis, did not respond to requests for comment.

The United States has had an extradition treaty with Australia since 1976.

PP