Washington DC – The United States Department of Justice has filed a forfeiture complaint against two mobile classroom trainers intercepted while being transported from the Test Flying Academy of South Africa to China’s People’s Liberation Army. The trainers are designed to train personnel on airborne warning systems and anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said TFASA “masquerades as a civilian flight-training academy when in fact it is a significant enabler of the Chinese air and naval forces, transferring NATO aviation expertise, operational knowledge, and restricted technology directly to the People’s Liberation Army.”
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia added that the seizure “demonstrates the ongoing threat that China and its enablers pose to US national security through the unlawful procurement of US military technology.”
FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division said TFASA “illegally exported US military flight simulator technology and recruited former NATO pilots for training China’s military, jeopardizing US national security and placing the lives of American service members at risk.” Acting Assistant Director in Charge Vanessa Tibbits noted the FBI’s commitment to protecting the country from foreign adversaries.
Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel of Homeland Security Investigations New York said the interdiction “denied adversaries access to vital US tactics and capabilities, protecting American interests and countering illicit procurement networks.”
Founded in 2003 with South African government support, TFASA operates facilities in South Africa and China, training Chinese military pilots to NATO standards for fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The seized trainers, part of Project Elgar, were modelled after Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon and equipped with software enhanced by TFASA engineers using US-origin technical data and flight simulator programs. Former NATO pilots were recruited to train PLA aviators in anti-submarine warfare techniques.
The US Department of Commerce added TFASA and several affiliates to the Entity List in June 2023 for providing training to Chinese military pilots using Western and NATO sources, citing threats to US national security and foreign policy interests.
The interdiction coincides with joint naval exercises involving China, Russia, and Iran in South African waters that began on January 10. The FBI, HSI New York, and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement, are leading the investigation. Assistant US Attorneys Steven B. Wasserman and Rick Blaylock Jr., with Acting Deputy Chief Sean Heiden of the National Security Division, are handling the litigation.
The government carries the burden of proving the trainers are subject to forfeiture in court.
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