With Over 2000 Pilots Killed, China Is Struggling With Its Aviators

China’s ambitions to develop cutting-edge aircraft achieved a significant turning point when the J-10, a homegrown fourth-generation jet fighter, was introduced in 1998 by the state-owned Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group.

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According to a Chinese media report, the J-10 project was greatly aided by a five-person team of Chinese test pilots trained to fly US warplanes aircraft in the UK. This also paved the way for creating the technologically sophisticated J-20 fifth-generation aircraft.

The SCMP report claimed that Lei Qiang, the son of a Korean war pilot and a member of the five-person team, was chosen to fly the first flight of the J-10 on March 23, 1998.

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