US top gun gave Chinese pilots aid

A US fighter pilot arrested in Australia is accused of helping to teach Chinese pilots to land on aircraft carriers, an indictment unsealed by a US court says.

Daniel Duggan.

A US fighter pilot arrested in Australia is accused of helping to teach Chinese pilots to land on aircraft carriers, an indictment unsealed by a US court says.

The 2017 indictment says Daniel Duggan, a former marine pilot, “provided military training to PRC (People’s Republic of China) pilots” via a South African flight school on three occasions in 2010 and 2012.

It says Mr Duggan faces four US charges, including conspiracy to unlawfully export defence services to China, conspiracy to launder money, and two counts of violating the arms export control act and international traffic in arms regulations.

The 54-year-old Mr Duggan was arrested by Australian police in the NSW town of Orange in October at the request of the US government, which is expected to request his extradition.

He was arrested as part of a co-ordinated crackdown by the Five Eyes intelligence partners, including Australia, to prevent retired fighter pilots training Chinese military for payment.

Days before Mr Duggan’s ­arrest, British media reported that some 30 retired Royal Air Force fighter pilots had accepted big pay packets from Beijing to train Chinese fighter pilots.

Australian authorities are ­investigating whether any ­retired RAAF pilots have been involved in such training.

According to the indictment, reported by Reuters, Mr Duggan was allegedly contracted directly by an unnamed Chinese national to provide services, including evaluations of Chinese military pilot trainees, testing of naval aviation-related equipment and instruction on tactics related to landing on aircraft carriers.

It said a T-2 Buckeye aircraft used for the training was bought from a US aircraft dealer with false information to obtain a US government-issued export ­licence.

China is investing heavily in aircraft carrier capability, with the People’s Liberation Army navy recently launching its third aircraft carrier, Fujian.

Mr Duggan’s lawyer, Dennis Miralis, has said previously his client denies breaking any laws and is an Australian citizen who renounced his US citizenship.

A father of six, Mr Duggan is in custody in Sydney.

The US must lodge an extradition request for him by ­December 20 under a bilateral treaty.

It alleged Mr Duggan travelled regularly between Australia, China and South Africa between 2009 and 2012 and did not seek the necessary ­permission from the US to train Chinese pilots.

After a decade with the US marines, Mr Duggan moved to Australia in 2002 and at one stage moved from NSW to Tasmania, where he set up Top Gun Tasmania, flying tourists and paying guests on joy flights in old former military aircraft, including the Chinese Nanchang CJ-6.

He then moved to Beijing in 2014 where he worked as an aviation consultant and returned to Australia from China just weeks before he was arrested.