Former U.S. Marine Corps pilot wanted to sell T-2 Buckeye to China

Daniel Edmund Duggan, a former United States Marine Corps pilot, was involved in the training of Chinese pilots and wanted to sell the plane to Beijing.

Here's What We Know

Duggan, 54, was arrested in Australia in 2022 on charges of working for China. He was training Chinese pilots in South Africa and planned to buy them a T-2 Buckeye training aircraft that could take off and land on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

The former AV-8B Harrier II pilot was detained in mid-October in Australia, where he is still in custody. The indictment, which was announced in federal court in the District of Columbia Circuit, said Duggan was specifically engaged in assisting the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy to develop deck aviation. The training focused on properly performing maneuvers to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier. The indictment also mentions an unnamed Chinese company that trained the military for the army and a second unidentified pilot from the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the 54-year-old U.S. citizen "violated U.S. gun control laws and participated in a conspiracy." WSJ reporters reached out to the defendant's lawyer for comment but received no response. The defense had previously denied the allegations of violating U.S. laws. The Justice Department did not respond to WSJ's request either.

The indictment states that Duggan and his accomplices orchestrated the purchase of the T-2 aircraft. They prepared false data in order for the U.S. authorities to issue an export license to South Africa. By the way, the U.S. removed the last Buckeye aircraft from service in 2015. But Greece, for example, is still operating them.

It is unclear what exactly happened to the T-2 purchase, but it is known that the 1967 T-2B is listed as exported to South Africa in the spring of 2011. After that it received a local civilian registration ZU-NVY. The aircraft underwent an upgrade, during which it received a Garmin GPS and a modern display. The current owner of the plane is unknown.

It is unknown why the decision was made to opt for the T-2 Buckeye. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that at the time China was developing its own Guizhou JL-9GA trainer aircraft, which entered service with the People's Liberation Army last year.

Daniel Edmund Duggan is on trial in Australia later this week. In parallel, U.S. prosecutors are seeking the former airman's extradition to answer to the law in his home country.

Source: The Drive