A former French Navy pilot, Pierre-Henri Chuet, has been detained and placed under formal investigation in France over allegations that he passed sensitive military information to Chinese operatives. Chuet had drawn attention in May 2025 after questioning the Indian Air Force's Rafale fighter jets during Operation Sindoor and describing Chinese-made J-10C and JF-17 aircraft as "Rafale killers". The Rafale jets operated by the IAF are manufactured by France's Dassault Aviation.
According to French investigative outlets Le Canard Enchaine and Mediapart, Paris prosecutors suspect Chuet of collecting and sharing classified military information with China. Although he has been released after his detention, he remains under judicial investigation.
A dual French-Canadian national, Chuet served in the French Navy's naval aviation wing until around 2021. During his service, he flew Super Etendard strike aircraft and Rafale M fighter jets from France's only operational aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle.
French media reports allege that while still serving in the Navy, Chuet made two undeclared visits to China in September 2018 and August 2019 without informing his superiors, as required by military regulations. During those trips, arranged through a South African aviation company, he is accused of conducting training sessions for Chinese military pilots and sharing sensitive operational and tactical knowledge.
Following questioning by France's domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, and a search of his home during the week of July 20, 2026, Chuet was formally placed under investigation.
He has denied any wrongdoing, telling Le Canard Enchaine that he only conducted two seminars and that the trips "did not go well". He faces allegations including sharing intelligence with a foreign power, revealing national defence secrets and other related offences, and has been placed under judicial supervision.
WHY IS PIERRE-HENRI CHUET UNDER INVESTIGATION?
Concerns over Chuet's alleged links with China first surfaced in 2023 and resurfaced in 2025. Reports by Le Canard Enchaine and Mediapart claimed he travelled to China twice in 2018 and 2019 while still serving in the French Navy without obtaining the necessary authorisation.
The visits were allegedly funded by the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA), where Chuet reportedly conducted training sessions for Chinese military pilots, including instruction related to aircraft carrier operations.
According to Mediapart, the first seminar focused on aircraft carrier landing technologies, while the second covered broader carrier operations, training for naval aviators and landing signal officers, the E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft and recent Western military operations in Syria.
In April 2025, Paris prosecutors confirmed to Le Parisien that they had received a referral from France's Ministry of the Armed Forces regarding a former serviceman suspected of sharing intelligence with a foreign power, disclosing national defence secrets, violating military instructions, holding unauthorised dual employment and laundering proceeds from tax fraud. The newspaper later identified the individual as Chuet, prompting a preliminary investigation.
On July 27, 2026, Intelligence Online reported that Chuet had been taken into custody and questioned by the DGSI during the previous week. His home was also searched.
He was subsequently brought before an investigating magistrate and formally placed under investigation on charges including disclosing national defence secrets, providing intelligence to a foreign power, collecting information relating to France's national interests and passing information to a foreign state. He has since been released under judicial supervision while the investigation continues.
ANOTHER CASE OF ALLEGED ESPIONAGE FOR CHINA
Chuet is not the first Western military pilot accused of assisting China.
Reuters reported in February 2026 that US authorities had arrested a former US Air Force F-35 pilot on allegations of training Chinese military personnel.
Earlier, in June 2024, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand jointly warned that China's People's Liberation Army was actively recruiting current and former military personnel from NATO countries and other Western nations to strengthen its military capabilities.
Chuet has consistently rejected the accusations.
"I simply led two three-day seminars. My 2019 trip did not go very well. I never set foot in China again afterwards," he told Le Canard Enchaine in 2025.
CHUET'S CLAIMS DURING OPERATION SINDOOR
Alongside the allegations against him, Chuet built a significant public profile as a defence analyst through television appearances and a YouTube channel with more than 560,000 subscribers.
During Operation Sindoor in May 2025, the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan involving air, missile and drone strikes, Chuet attracted criticism for his analysis of the aerial engagements.
In a video released on May 10, 2025, he claimed that a Pakistan Air Force J-10C had shot down an Indian Air Force Rafale using a PL-15 beyond-visual-range missile, despite there being no official confirmation.
In later videos, he praised Pakistan's Chinese-built J-10C and JF-17 fighter jets, calling them, along with the PL-15 missile, "Rafale killers" and arguing that the conflict highlighted the effectiveness of Chinese air combat technology.
DASSAULT, IAF REJECTED HIS CLAIMS
Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier publicly dismissed Pakistan's claims that Indian Rafale fighter jets had been shot down during Operation Sindoor, describing them as inaccurate.
While India acknowledged that the IAF had lost "some aircraft" during the conflict, it consistently maintained that none of the losses involved Rafale jets.
That position was reinforced by an Air Headquarters Request for Proposal issued in June 2026, which sought a five-month bridge support package for all 36 Rafale aircraft operated by the IAF—the same number originally purchased from France—indicating that the entire fleet remained intact.
Although Chuet became widely known for his controversial commentary on Operation Sindoor and his praise of Chinese fighter aircraft, he is now facing far more serious legal proceedings in France over allegations that he shared sensitive military information with China.
However, Chuet has not been convicted. Under the French legal system, being placed under formal investigation means investigators believe there is sufficient evidence to continue the case, but it does not amount to a finding of guilt. An investigating magistrate will now determine whether the case proceeds to trial.
If prosecutors ultimately prove the allegations, the former Rafale pilot could face serious legal consequences for allegedly maintaining intelligence links with a foreign power and disclosing national defence secrets.
