Every time I hear phrases like, everybody knows, or it is common knowledge, I immediately smell something unpleasant. There is an objection that I often receive especially from American viewers. The objection is that the Chinese can't really train their pilots because their totalitarian culture doesn't allow for autonomous thinking. Easily it's a claim that can be backed by any source. In the early 2000s, Chinese new pilot training has been plagued by several issues. It was very slow due to the configuration of the virus schools. It was focused on following specific parameters and flight procedures. And it was obsessed by safety, making realistic training impossible. The aircraft being used were also not adequate. When China started acquiring four generation aircraft, the trainer fleet was formed by mostly second and third generation aircraft. But there were problems with instructors too, who were pilots specialized in teaching rather than expert pilots who could pass on their practical knowledge. However, it was clear that the type of training was inadequate. The information of how to extend training is widely available and the difference was immediately visible to everyone. Training with other air forces, in particular with the Royal Tire Force, evidence important gaps and crucially, the training syllables couldn't support the rapid growth that the plough was undergoing. And the Chinese were the first to understand this, and it was even recognized in public speeches by high officers. The PLA, every the K-Dore, so publishes a document called the English D-O-M-T-E, which is the acronym of Outline of Military Training and Evaluation. The last one was published in 2018 and revised in 2019. Four major goals of the PLA's latest O-M-T-E as published in the document are to make whole training relevant to operations, to improve the effectiveness of training, to ensure safety reasonably, and to cultivate pilots independence. And here goes the myth that the Chinese do not want their pilots to be capable of autonomy. It used to be true, but things have changed a lot. Now it is even officially true, but stay with me because the Chinese Air Force started implementing reforms since the early 2010s. The other Chinese pilot spends about 80 hours flying a pistol engineer craft. The CJ-6, which is a venerable aircraft that is still considered adequate today. Then they spend about 150 hours in the JL8, the iconic Chinese trainer used by many air forces around the world, and this is considered the intermediate training. Advanced training happens with the JJ-7 and JJ-9 supersonic jets, but unfortunately since these are the amping derivative of the MiG-21, not suitable for four-generation training or above. In fact, for quite a long time, the Chinese transition on four-generation fighters only expert third-generation pilots. All the new pilots started the operational career on third-generation aircraft. The solution was the introduction of the JL10 in 2019. The supersonic, it has a glass cockpit, and its systems are considered four-generation systems. So in 2020 some of the training schools started moving the syllables of some of the pilots on the JL10 ditching the JL8 and amalgamating intermediate and advanced training. And it also seems that the JL10 is training the new pilots destined to the J20. Then in 2021, J10A and the oldest flanker versions started appearing in flight schools, anticipating even more the transition to combat aircraft. The Chinese did the transition to the operational aircraft traditionally at unit level, but now it seems that it is no longer the case. In this way the flight training has become very intensive and the number of pilots that can move directly to units using four-ten fifth-generation aircraft has greatly increased. The first step required by your MTE was to improve the training of the trainers. They were required to greatly improve their actual skills, conducting elaborate training missions, and learning maneuvers that were not taught at the flight school. Then a new policy of selecting structures from operational units was enacted, finally bringing a real experience to the program. The students training became much more realistic. With high-g maneuvers, low-level flight, and night and bad weather missions, students are now given an objective and they are expected to plan the mission on their own rather than follow a standard flight profile. Unscripted air to our combat 1v1 and 1v2 is now the norm. And it has become an important part of the curriculum. Combat between formations is practice and even air combat competitions are held. Maybe they have been inspired by Top Gun. Air to ground is still mostly practiced with training bombs, but life-fire exercises do happen, albeit not with guided weapons. So these are the facts. If you're wondering where I found these news, well, it's not Chinese propaganda, it's not the South China Morning Post, it's not CCTV. My main source for this video was a 2021 report from the China Aerospace Studies Institute, which is part of the US Department of the Air Force. So you know, there are a lot of outlets that hand the business of pandering to a fraction of the US public that wants to hear how the US is the pinnacle of, well, everything, sorry, but I'm not one of those. And in fact, the Chinese training has some interesting elements that might be copied in Western curricula. And if you want to know what I'm talking about, please click on the videos that are appearing beside me. And a normal thank you to all those who are supporting the channel. If you haven't yet, please like and subscribe. This is really helping a lot. And then, meanwhile, thank you very much for watching and see you next time.