China's Females J-10 Fighter Pilots
2012-08-15 20:21 BJT (chinadaily.com.cn)
A group of Chinese female pilots have recently made their first solo flights in the J-10 combat aircraft,
becoming the first female air force pilots capable of flying the multirole aircraft — the country's most
advanced fighter jet.
The five female pilots completed solo flights and missions navigating the J-10 on July 29 and 30, the
PLA Daily reported on Wednesday.
The Chengdu Jian-10 (also "J-10" or "F-10" but known to the West as "Vigorous Dragon") was originally
designed as an air superiority fighter for China but was later revised to become an all-weather, day/night
multirole fighter much the same vein as the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and similar Mikoyan-
Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum.
China has trained nearly 500 female pilots since women were first permitted to enroll in flight schools in
1951, the paper said.
Those female pilots have completed various missions, ranging from flying transport planes, conducting
air detection to fighting in military exercise or providing rescue and relief work in emergencies.
In 2005, China's air force began to recruit female combat pilots, following the global trend to enable
women to enter military service in the air.
In addition to China, 15 other countries have female fighter pilots, including the United States, Britain,
Germany, Spain, Israel and Pakistan.
This special group has became a cradle of and talent pool for the astronaut corps, as Liu Yang, China's
first woman in space, was served as a female pilot in the air force before she was selected as an astronaut.
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