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UK fighter pilots offered £240k salaries by China to train enemy top guns – with 30 already betraying Britain
BRIT fighter pilots are being offered £240,000 salaries by China to train enemy top guns, intelligence sources have warned.
At least 30 former UK Armed Forces pilots are already betraying Britain by working with troops in China to help ramp up the country’s military capabilities and tactics.
![](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/peoples-liberation-army-air-force-768805814.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
British fighter jet pilots are being recruited to train China’s People’s Liberation Army[/caption]
![](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tcwmr6-chinese-air-force-j-768805809.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The Chinese Air Force J-11BS two-seater is one of the latest fighter jets in China[/caption]
![](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/pilots-line-front-fighter-jets-768806192-1.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Pilots line up in front of fighter jets of the Bayi Aerobatics Team of the Chinese PLA[/caption]
![](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1960-guerrilla-campaign-treaty-greece-739740591.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
An RAF Typhoon fighter jet seen at the British airbase at Akrotiri in Cyprus[/caption]
Headhunting of both serving and former UK pilots has been “consistent and widespread” since the end of 2019, a Western official said.
The fighter pilots are being offered lucrative packages of £240,000 a year to train personnel in China’s People’s Liberation Army.
It’s understood some of those who have been recruited to work with the Chinese are in their 50s and left the military some time ago.
China’s leader Xi Jinping has vowed to step up troop training and new strategies to reach his bold target of becoming a world-class military.
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And where it’s impossible to catch up with the West, Xi has told his two million-strong armed forces to take steps to rise to the challenge.
It’s understood the Official Secrets Act has not been broken by the former British fighter pilots – but the UK government has now issued a threat alert over the rampant recruitment schemes.
The UK does not have the legal power to force the flying aces to return home to Britain – but the government is reaching out to those involved, it’s understood.
The Western official said: “We had been aware of individual cases of headhunting personnel since 2019 – but very small numbers.
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“We dealt with those effectively on a case-by-case basis when they arose. We had the pandemic and things went quieter.
“But since the pandemic ended, and the lifting of restrictions here, that scale of recruitment has increased.
“The threat alert is particularly centred on fast jet pilots and other pilots – helicopter pilots.”
It’s understood the former servicemen are being approached by the Test Flying Academy of South Africa – which has no connection to the South African government.
“In terms of the deal on offer, it is a lucrative package being offered to people in this arena,” the official said.
“You can see it is attractive in terms of remuneration. Some people are in their 50s and left the military some time ago.
“Money is a strong motivator and some of these people have left defence for quite a while.
“We are aware of ongoing attempts to recruit serving personnel, but no serving personnel have accepted that offer.”
It’s understood the British government is liaising with its allies on the threat.
“This is a wider issue beyond the UK. This is not just RAF, this is military pilots… it’s a broader issue,” the Western official said.
“We have no reason to believe any of the individuals have broken the Official Secrets Act, but we want to take action to mitigate the risk in the future.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: “We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to headhunt serving and former UK Armed Forces pilots to train People’s Liberation Army personnel in the People’s Republic of China.”
They said the department is now reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements across the UK defence sector.
“The new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges – including this one,” the spokesperson added.
It comes days after it was revealed China will be declared an official “threat” in a new strategic review of Britain’s enemies.
Ex-PM Boris Johnson’s landmark 2021 Integrated Defence and Security Review classed China a “systemic competitor” – but stopped short of saying they were actively hostile to the UK.
But now Liz Truss is preparing to toughen that stance after announcing a review of the policy last month.
Top spook Sir Jeremy Fleming said: “China’s great strength combined with fear is driving them into actions that could represent a huge threat to us all.”
In a lecture at the Royal United Services Institute, he said China’s approach to tech dominance puts them against “the whole open, democratic order and the international rules-based system”.
Iain Duncan Smith said the decision was “long overdue”.
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“We have been campaigning for this,” he said.
“It is time we stopped messing around and recognised that China poses a threat to the way we live our lives, and it is time now to treat them in the same way we treat Russia.”
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The Apple Watch Series 8 is already $50 off
Apple’s latest Watch Series 8 just came out last month, but you can already grab a deal on it. The 41mm model is selling at Amazon in Midnight, Red or Silver for $349, for a savings of $50 (13 percent), and the 44mm model is on sale at $379, or $50 off the regular price. That’ll get you all of Apple’s latest Watch features, including a skin temperature sensor, low power mode and more. Be aware, though, that stock appears to be limited so you may have to move quickly.
Buy Apple Watch Series 8 at Amazon
The Series 8 is more of an incremental update over the Series 7, but it does have some useful new features. The first is a new temperature sensor that Apple has tied to women’s health, giving female users an estimate on when they may be ovulating. It’s meant to be used overnight, sampling your wrist temperature every five seconds so you can see shifts from your baseline temperature.
The other key feature is Crash Detection. Much as current watches can detect a fall, the Series 8 can detect car crashes via a pair of new accelerometers. It works in concert with the other sensors already included in the Apple Watch to detect four different types of crashes, including rollovers, front impact, back impact and side impact.
While battery life is the same as before at 18 hours, there’s a new power mode that keeps it going for up to 36 hours on a full charge. It also uses a newer S8 system-in-package processor, that should allow for improved performance. With those updates, we found the Series 8 to be the “new best smartwatch,” letting Apple keep its, er, crown in that department. As mentioned, if you’re looking to get one, act quickly.
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UK Apple Store Already Anticipating iPhone 15 Launch in 2023
Employees at Apple Milton Keynes have been told that they may not take any leave between September 15, 2023 and October 7, 2023, and December 2, 2023 and the start of January 2024. Requests for time off during this “embargo” period will not be authorized by store managers. While increased footfall in retail stores is always expected in the fall around the launch of new Apple devices, especially new iPhone models, and during the holiday period, the latest instruction appears to be an distinct change of protocol in the region.
Apple usually forbids time off immediately before the launch of new devices and the holiday period, and this is often communicated directly to employees at short notice via an internal Apple communications app. The latest change, forbidding time off around a year in advance, has been communicated more covertly via a memo issued on a local basis.
Store managers claim that the instruction comes from “above the store” level, but retail employees are not sure of exactly where the order originates from in Apple’s corporate hierarchy. The change has been presented to employees as one made “to make sure we are better equipped for next year” during “high velocity moments.”
It is not clear how widespread the new instruction is, but the dates have clearly been selected discriminately, likely in anticipation of new Apple devices launching in the second half of next year and heightened footfall in the holiday period.
It is is highly improbable that there are any firm dates for the launch of the iPhone 15 lineup yet, with the devices themselves still likely needing to undergo production validation tests before a mass production timetable can be confirmed. Nevertheless, it is of note that Apple retail is already blocking out dates that likely relate to the launch of new devices late next year this far ahead of time.
This article, “UK Apple Store Already Anticipating iPhone 15 Launch in 2023” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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