"The Uygur ethnic group has an old saying: The eagle's wings can never be broken, no matter how strong the wind and rain may be. The tougher the environment is, the braver you need to be to face it," said Mustafa, the first Uygur aviator in the Chinese military to fly the H-6K bomber.

"During our missions, we have encountered extreme weather, provocations from enemies and even life-threatening scenarios, but we have never cowered because we all know that we have the motherland behind us."

Mustafa is not the only person in his unit to have had a memorable experience.

Zhang Chengliang, another young pilot, said that during a long-distance patrol operation, his crew spotted several foreign ships making an unapproved transit in Chinese territorial waters.

After reporting the situation and receiving permission from his commander, Zhang lowered his H-6K and flew over the vessels to warn them off while other crew members took pictures and made videos of the ships' activities.