Pierre-Henri Chuet, a former French naval aviation Rafale fighter pilot and popular YouTube personality, was detained on July 21 by the French DGSI counterintelligence, his home searched, and subsequently placed under judicial supervision. He has been officially charged with "disclosing national defense secrets by a person to whom they were entrusted," "colluding with a foreign power," "collecting information about the most important interests of the state," and "transmitting information to a foreign power." These charges stem from allegations that he trained pilots for China's People's Liberation Army.
The investigation into Chuet's activities, which included two trips to China in 2018 and 2019, was initially launched over a year ago. It is alleged that China organized these training sessions to develop its pilots' skills using Western experience, coordinating operations through the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. Beijing's objective was reportedly to gather intelligence on Western armed forces' procedures and working methods, in addition to training its own pilots.
The training scheme allegedly involved a South African firm, Test Flight Academy of South Africa (TFASA), which hired former Western Air Force pilots for up to $30,000 per month and sent them to China. Multiple media outlets, including M6 and Mediapart, had previously raised concerns about this scheme and Chuet's involvement, citing emails from the South African organization containing training materials for the Chinese army.
Chuet, who maintains a YouTube channel with 566,000 subscribers, denies all the charges. In a January 27, 2025, video on his channel, he asserted that his trips to China were neither secret nor illegal. He currently benefits from the presumption of innocence while investigating judges continue their inquiry into his activities.
This case has significant national security implications for France, as transferring such critical tactical skills to a rival power like China could compromise the aerial superiority of allied forces in a potential future conflict. Intelligence Online had previously reported on the ongoing legal issues surrounding Chinese pilot training involving naval aviation influencers.
