French ex-Rafale pilot investigated over alleged intelligence activity for China

A former French Navy Rafale pilot has been placed under formal investigation in Paris over alleged intelligence activity benefiting China. 

Pierre-Henri Chuet, who flew Super Étendard and Rafale M fighters from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, was presented to an investigating magistrate during the week of July 20, 2026, after being questioned at the premises of France’s domestic intelligence service, the DGSI. His home was searched. The development was first reported on July 27, 2026, by the specialist outlet Intelligence Online. 

Chuet faces four counts: disclosure of national defense secrets by a person entrusted with them, intelligence with a foreign power, collection of information relating to the fundamental interests of the nation, and delivery of information to a foreign power. He has been placed under judicial supervision. 

Under French procedure, a “mise en examen” is neither a conviction nor a decision to send a case to trial. It indicates that an investigating magistrate considers there is serious or corroborating evidence justifying a formal inquiry.  

China trips led to a 2025 military referral 

French investigative outlet Le Canard Enchaîné reported in April 2025 that the Paris prosecutor’s office had received a referral from the Ministry of the Armed Forces on February 19, 2025, concerning a former serviceman suspected of intelligence activity with a foreign power. 

The pilot had reportedly traveled to China in September 2018 and August 2019 while still serving, without notifying his chain of command as French military regulations require. Both trips were said to have been arranged and financed by a South African aviation company. 

A French Navy Rafale Marine landing aboard the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier (Credit: U.S. Navy photo)

Chuet, a dual citizen of France and Canada, trained as an exchange officer with the US Navy and completed approximately 200 carrier landings before being medically discharged following a stroke. He subsequently built a large aviation following on YouTube and worked as an author, corporate speaker and airline pilot. 

That carrier aviation experience would be particularly valuable to Beijing. China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy operates three aircraft carriers, with a fourth under construction. Its newest, Fujian, is configured for catapult-assisted take-offs and arrested landings. French naval aviators, trained on the only operational CATOBAR carrier outside the US Navy, therefore belong to a narrow and highly sought-after category.  

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South African intermediaries link cases across NATO 

The South African intermediary at the center of the French case matches a pattern documented across the alliance.  

A 2022 Sky News investigation identified the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) as a conduit for recruiting former British military aviators, prompting a UK Ministry of Defence threat alert. A Mail on Sunday investigation published on June 28, 2026, named seven further former British personnel. 

Spanish newspaper ABC reported on July 25, 2026, that intelligence services have identified at least two former Spanish Air and Space Force pilots working to train Chinese military aviators, hired through South African intermediaries, including TFASA. 

In January 2026, the US Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to seize two containerized mission crew trainers built by TFASA and intercepted en route from South Africa to China. Modeled on the interior of Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon, the systems allegedly incorporated US-origin software and Western anti-submarine warfare expertise to help Chinese personnel detect and track US Navy submarines.  

The US Department of Justice also charged former US Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan in 2017 over carrier landing instruction allegedly provided to Chinese pilots, and Australia approved his extradition in 2022. It arrested former US Air Force pilot Gerald Eddie Brown Jr in February 2026, later alleging he had delivered a briefing on the F-35 in China.The post French ex-Rafale pilot investigated over alleged intelligence activity for China appeared first on AeroTime.

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