A former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot was arrested Wednesday on allegations that he traveled to China to illegally train combat pilots with the People’s Liberation Army.
The Justice Department announced that 65-year-old Gerald Eddie Brown, Jr. had been charged with providing and conspiring to provide defense services to Chinese military pilots without authorization in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Brown was arrested in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and is expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday.
“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 Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “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.”
The complaint accused Brown of beginning in August 2023 to conspire with foreign nationals to train People’s Liberation Army Air Force combat pilots. It said that Brown did not obtain the proper license from the State Department to train a foreign military.
Brown served in the U.S. Air Force for 24 years. He commanded sensitive units with responsibilities that included oversight of nuclear weapons delivery systems. He led combat missions and served as a fighter pilot instructor, according to the Justice Department. Before he retired in 1996, he was known by the call sign “Runner.” Brown also worked for multiple defense contractors in recent years on flight training.
The Justice Department said that Brown worked with Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national who pleaded guilty back in 2016 for conspiring to hack into the computer systems of multiple defense contractors.
Brown traveled to China in December 2023, where he allegedly answered questions about the Air Force. According to the complaint, he told a co-conspirator in a message upon landing in China that he now had “the chance to fly and instruct fighter pilots again!” He did not return to the United States until February 2026.
“As an Air Force Officer, Brown took an oath to defend our Nation against all enemies foreign and domestic, he broke that oath, and betrayed the country, jeopardizing the safety of our servicemembers and allies,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “We will hold Brown, and anyone conspiring against our Nation, accountable for their actions.”
The case against Brown was investigated by the FBI’s New York Field Office.