A former U.S. Air Force major with experience training pilots to fly the F-35 Lightning II was arrested on Wednesday after he reportedly spent years in China instructing the Communist nation’s military.
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“Gerald Brown, a former F-35 Lightning II instructor pilot with decades of experience flying U.S. military aircraft, allegedly betrayed his country by training Chinese pilots to fight against those he swore to protect,” said FBI Counterintelligence and Espionage Division Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky.
“The Chinese government continues to exploit the expertise of current and former members of the U.S. armed forces to modernize China’s military capabilities. This arrest serves as a warning that the FBI and our partners will stop at nothing to hold accountable anyone who collaborates with our adversaries to harm our service members and jeopardize our national security,” he added.
Retired Air Force Major Gerald Eddie Brown Jr. was arrested in Jeffersonville, Indiana, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, shortly after he returned to the U.S. after spending years living—and allegedly betraying his country—in China.
The criminal complaint alleges that since around August 2023, Brown conspired with Chinese citizens and unnamed U.S. co-conspirators to train People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pilots for combat.
Combat training is classified as a defense service under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and U.S. citizens are forbidden from providing such services to foreign nations or militaries without express permission from the U.S. State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
Before his alleged defection to serve the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Brown had a successful Air Force career. He served for 24 years, with his active duty service ending in 1996. During his time on active duty, he commanded units responsible for nuclear weapons delivery systems, led combat missions, and trained fighter pilots on numerous aircraft.
After his military career ended, Brown reportedly served as a commercial pilot, then as a contract simulator instructor for defense contractors training U.S. pilots on the F-35 and the A-10.
Brown allegedly began arranging a contract to train Chinese pilots by going through co-conspirators to negotiate with Chinese national Stephen Su Bin.
Bin was convicted in 2016 of conspiring to hack U.S. defense contractors to steal sensitive military data. For that act of espionage, he was sentenced to under four years in prison and was free to continue working for his communist homeland.
Strangely, Brown’s alleged efforts to begin working for the CCP mirrored a normal job application process in some ways, with him even submitting a resume with his past experience.
“Now…. I have the chance to fly and instruct fighter pilots again,” he allegedly told another co-conspirator when he arrived in China in December 2023.
Upon arrival, Chinese officials allegedly questioned him for three hours about the workings of the U.S. Air Force.
He reportedly remained in China until early February 2026 and was arrested shortly after his return.
Brown’s case resembles that of former U.S. Marine Corps pilot Daniel Edmund Duggan, who was charged in 2017 with training Chinese pilots and participating in an international money laundering scheme.
Duggan was arrested in Australia in 2022 and is still pending extradition to the U.S.
