An American military official, top right, looks into the cockpit of a Chinese Su-27 fighter during a visit to Anshan Airfield, China, on March 24, 2007. Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., a former F-35 Lightning II pilot, is accused by the U.S. of training Chinese military pilots without authorization between December 2023 and February 2026. (D. Myles Cullen/U.S. Air Force)
A former Air Force pilot who worked with nuclear weapons delivery systems on U.S. fighter jets was slated to make an initial appearance Thursday in federal court in Indiana over accusations that he provided defense secrets to China.
Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., 65, is charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act, the Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday, which is when he was arrested in Jeffersonville, Ind.
He served as a fighter pilot instructor and simulator instructor on such aircraft as the F-35 Lightning II, F-4, F-15, F-16 and A-10. During his military career, he commanded sensitive units responsible for nuclear weapons delivery systems and led combat missions, the statement said.
“As an Air Force officer, Brown took an oath to defend our nation against all enemies foreign and domestic,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in the statement. “He broke that oath and betrayed the country, jeopardizing the safety of our service members and allies.”
Also known by his callsign “Runner,” Brown spent 24 years in the Air Force before leaving active duty as a major in 1996, the statement said.
Prosecutors say that in August 2023, Brown began negotiating a contract through a co-conspirator with Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national who was sentenced to nearly four years in prison.
Su Bin pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiring to hack into the computer systems of U.S. defense contractors on behalf of China.
Brown arrived in China in December 2023, the statement said. The training prosecutors say he provided is considered a defense service covered under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
A State Department license is required to provide training to foreign persons or foreign military units.
Brown listed his objective on the application as “instructor fighter pilot,” prosecutors said.
“Now ... I have the chance to fly and instruct fighter pilots again!” he told a co-conspirator on arrival in China, the statement said.
On his first day there, Brown answered questions about the U.S. Air Force for three hours, the statement said. He remained in China until this month, when he returned to the U.S. for reasons that remain unknown.
A U.S. F-35 Lightning II pilot gets out of the aircraft at Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal, Australia, on June 24, 2024. Former Air Force pilot Gerald Eddie Brown Jr. was slated to appear Thursday in federal court in Indiana over accusations that he unlawfully trained Chinese military pilots. (Nicholas Johnson/U.S. Marine Corps)
U.S. allies and partners are likely to have some tough questions for the Pentagon as a result of Brown’s arrest, aviation analyst and former Australian air force officer Peter Layton told CNN.
“If I was an allied nation flying the F-35, I would be very strongly requesting what the U.S. finds has been passed on to the Chinese and what changes to tactics and procedures the U.S. now suggests should be made,” Layton said.
Brown’s case calls to mind the charges against former Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan, who was arrested in Australia in October 2022. His extradition to the U.S. is pending the outcome of an appeal lodged in October.
Like Brown, Duggan is accused of providing unauthorized training to Chinese military pilots without authorization in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. He also faces charges of conspiring to engage in international money laundering.
In 2024, the U.S., U.K. Australia, Canada and New Zealand issued a bulletin saying China was actively targeting current and former military personnel from NATO and Western countries to strengthen its military.
