A pilot walks toward an unidentified aircraft in a promotional video on carrier-based pilot recruitment released by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on February 27, 2023. Observers say it could be China's next-generation carrier-based fighter jet. Photo: Screenshot of the PLA Navy promotional video

The recruitment, selection methods, and training models for naval aviation cadets have been continuously expanded and optimized, gradually forming a distinctive recruitment and selection model for carrier-based aircraft pilots, according to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's aviator recruitment work conference held on Tuesday. At the same time, the selection and training of carrier-based aircraft pilots have achieved remarkable results. 

In recent years, the recruitment scope of naval aviation cadets has been continuously expanded, while the structure of the aviation talent pool has been optimized, according to the PLA Daily citing the Navy's flight recruitment office. The recruitment areas have covered all 31 provincial-level administrative regions in the Chinese mainland, and 14 naval youth aviation schools have been gradually established nationwide, along with the formation of naval aviation experimental classes. 

The source categories for the recruitment of carrier-based aircraft pilots now include high school graduates, youth aviation school graduates, recent graduates from military and civilian universities, and university student soldiers. 

In February 2023, the Navy announced that it will recruit university graduates of the class of 2023 for its naval aviation forces, marking the first attempt to attract highly educated candidates and develop them into carrier-based pilots. In the selection for the 2024 recruitment, for the first time, it will also target recent graduates of master's degree programs for carrier-based aviator selection. 

It is worth noting that the selection for the 2023 recruitment will organize the first selection of female carrier-based aircraft pilot candidates, which is likely to produce China's first female carrier-based aviator in the near future. 

The selection methods for carrier-based aircraft pilot candidates emphasize ability screening and highlight carrier-based characteristics. For example,  recruitment work combines the characteristics of the military branch and the professional needs to optimize testing projects, and explores the establishment of relatively complete and reasonable psychological selection criteria. 

Currently, the training methods for naval aviation cadets have become more diverse, and a talent training model with distinctive Chinese military characteristics has been explored and established. The admitted flight cadets mainly receive training at the PLA Naval Aviation University, where the teaching emphasizes carrier-based flight characteristics and regularly conducts specialized training in air superiority operations, among others, successfully establishing a "growth model" training path for carrier-based aircraft pilots. 

The Navy's flight recruitment office stated that more than half of the flight cadets selected from recent graduates of civilian universities in the 2023 recruitment meet the training conditions for carrier-based aviators, according to the PLA Daily.

Global Times