PLA Navy recruitment focuses on ship-borne fighter-pilot hopefuls

The 2015 pilot recruitment of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) recently kicked off, expecting to recruit 5% more pilots next year and placing more emphasis on selecting ship-borne fighter-pilot hopefuls, said news from CCTV.

It is reported that the PLAN's pilot recruitment consists of three stages - preliminary selection, comprehensive examination and final selection and recruitment. Preliminary selection will take place in October to November this year, comprehensive examination in February to May next year, and final selection and recruitment will be carried out after the results of next year's national college entrance exam are published.

With the continuous development of China's aircraft carrier, a large group of excellent ship-borne aircraft pilots is needed to establish the combat capability of the carriers.

Zhu Jianfeng, deputy director of the PLAN pilot recruitment office, introduced the new changes in the recruitment this year. "We have expanded the scope of pilot recruitment, set our eyes on those with the potential to carry out ship-borne flight in advance, introduced the psychological quality selection system for ship-borne pilot trainees, and officially incorporated cultural test in the preliminary selection."