Female fighter jet pilots are ready to perform at Zhuhai airshow on Nov 11, 2014. (Photo: Chinanews.com)
(ECNS) - Four new female fighter jet pilots are ready to enter service after a graduation ceremony was held at an airbase in Jinan, East China's Shandong province.
Six female pilots have previously completed tactical training and passed their fighter modification assessments in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province.
The ceremony was held to honor the first batch of 10 female fighter pilots who have completed their training and are ready to join the combat force.
In 2008, China began selecting 33 female fighter jet pilots out of 150,000 candidates who had finished high school. In four years, the selected candidates finished nearly 100 courses, ranging from aviation theory to flight, to parachuting and field survival.
The candidates then received a year learning to fly advanced trainer aircraft, with the top 16 members receiving dual bachelor’s degrees in engineering and military.
Among the 16 members, 10 finished with honors.
They will reportedly fly advanced domestic fighter planes.
