Former U.S. F-35 Instructor Pilot Arrested Over China Training

The Justice Department has charged Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., a 65-year-old former U.S. Air Force Major, with violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) by allegedly providing unauthorized “defense services” to pilots of China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

Arrested on February 25, 2026, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Brown is accused of conspiring with foreign nationals and other U.S. persons to deliver combat aircraft training without a license from the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), as required under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

He is presumed innocent until proven guilty. His initial appearance is scheduled for February 26, 2026, before a Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged conspiracy began around August 2023.

Prosecutors say the training constituted a regulated defense service because it involved advanced tactical instruction for military pilots.

Brown allegedly relied on a co-conspirator to negotiate terms with Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national who pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiring to hack U.S. defense contractors and steal sensitive military data, served nearly four years in prison, and whose company was placed on the U.S. Entity List.

Brown served more than 24 years in the U.S. Air Force, leaving active duty in 1996 as a Major.

His assignments included commanding units responsible for nuclear weapons delivery systems, leading combat missions, and flying multiple frontline aircraft: the F-4 Phantom II, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and A-10 Thunderbolt II. After 1996, he worked as a commercial cargo pilot and later as a contract simulator instructor for U.S. defense contractors, training American pilots on the A-10 and the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

He was a former F-35 instructor pilot.

In communications cited by prosecutors, Brown described his résumé objective as “Instructor Fighter Pilot” and wrote that he would be traveling to “the local equivalent [of the] U.S. Air Force Weapon School.”

Upon arrival in China in December 2023, he allegedly stated:

“Now…. I have the chance to fly and instruct fighter pilots again!”

On his first day there, authorities allege he spent three hours answering questions about the U.S. Air Force.

On the second day, he prepared and delivered a personal brief to PLAAF personnel. The complaint states he remained in China training pilots until early February 2026 and was arrested the day after returning to the United States.

Senior officials framed the case as a counterintelligence priority.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said, “The United States Air Force trained Major Brown to be an elite fighter pilot and entrusted him with the defense of our Nation. He now stands charged with training Chinese military pilots.”

FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky added that Brown “allegedly betrayed his country by training Chinese pilots to fight against those he swore to protect.”

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro stated that Brown “broke that oath, and betrayed the country, jeopardizing the safety of our servicemembers and allies.”

The investigation was led by the FBI’s New York Field Office with assistance from Louisville, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles, alongside the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Prosecution is being handled by the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with assistance from the Southern District of Indiana.

The case follows 2017 charges against former U.S. Marine pilot Daniel Edmund Duggan and a 2024 public warning by the U.S. and its Five Eyes partners about the PLA targeting Western military expertise.