The US Department of Justice announced on Thursday (January 15) that authorities have intercepted and seized two sets of “Mission Crew Trainer” (MCT) being transported from a flight school in South Africa to China for use by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and have filed a complaint for the confiscation of related equipment. The Department of Justice pointed out that these equipment illegally contain US-made software and defense technology data, aimed at enhancing the Chinese military’s ability to detect and track US submarines.
According to the Department of Justice, the MCT is a “mobile classroom” set up inside shipping containers, designed to simulate the Boeing P-8 “Poseidon” anti-submarine patrol aircraft, used for training military personnel in operating airborne early warning and control systems (AWACS) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the Department of Justice, John A. Eisenberg, stated in a declaration, “The South African Flight Test Academy (TFASA) masquerades as a civilian flight training school, but in reality, it is a crucial asset for the Chinese Air Force and Navy, serving as a direct channel to transfer NATO aviation expertise, operational knowledge, and controlled technology to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.”
Eisenberg emphasized that the US will take decisive action to prevent US technology from falling into the hands of adversaries to maintain military competitive advantage.
Federal prosecutor in Washington, Jeanine Pirro, said, “This seizure operation demonstrates that Chinese and their accomplices are posing a continuous threat to US national security by illegally acquiring US military technology.”
“The Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners will continue to steadfastly commit to utilizing all legal tools to prevent this critical technology from falling into the hands of hostile forces,” she added.
The Department of Justice stated that the project known internally at the South African Flight Test Academy (TFASA) as “Project Elgar” began in 2019 with the aim of producing mobile simulators for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army by combining US-developed basic flight simulation software with Western anti-submarine aircraft data.
Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, Roman Rozhavsky, stated, “The South African Flight Test Academy illegally exported US military flight simulation technology and recruited former NATO pilots to train the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, endangering US national security and putting US military personnel’s lives at risk.”
The two containers carrying the simulation equipment were intercepted when transiting through Singapore in September 2024 and arrived in the US on January 7, 2026.
At the time of this confiscation operation, South Africa was conducting a week-long joint naval exercise with China, Russia, and Iran in South African waters.
The investigation of this case is currently being jointly handled by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the US Department of Commerce.
The US Department of Commerce had already placed TFASA and its multiple subsidiaries and affiliated companies on the Entity List (blacklist) back in June 2023, as the institution had used technology and expertise from Western and NATO sources to train Chinese military pilots.