China's first female carrier aircraft pilots debut at Airshow China

GUANGZHOU -- At the ongoing Airshow China in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province, the Chinese Navy introduced two members of its first batch of female carrier-based aircraft pilot trainees, namely Han Meng and Wang Mengdi.

The debuts of these two "post-2000" female soldiers instantly captured the audience's attention. Moreover, it marked the first time that the airshow had gathered female pilots from the army, navy and air force of the People's Liberation Army.

Han and Wang were mainly responsible for introducing recruitment policies and conducting flight simulation demonstrations inside the venue.

"Only when talent training and equipment development reach a certain level can we train women to become military pilots," said Tang Haijing with the navy's recruitment office.

Tang added that training female carrier-based pilots, in a sense, represents the standard of a nation's military aviation technology.

The Chinese navy first started to recruit female cadet pilots to fly carrier-based aircraft during its 2023 recruitment program. Wang, a procurement major at a military school, and Han, an undergraduate from Xi'an University of Technology, seized this opportunity.

After completing months of intense training, Han's goal is clear — to become a fully competent pilot. Wang, meanwhile, has set her sights on serving aboard the aircraft carrier Fujian.