The United States Department of Justice has announced the arrest of a former US Air Force fighter pilot accused of illegally training Chinese military personnel without federal authorization.
Gerald Brown, 65, was arrested in Indiana on Wednesday after recently returning from China, where he had been since December 2023, according to a Justice Department statement.
Prosecutors allege that Brown “conspired with foreign nationals to provide combat aircraft training to pilots in the Chinese Air Force” without obtaining the required license from the US State Department.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the development in a post on X, writing:
“Major story… the FBI and our partners have arrested a former US Air Force Pilot who was allegedly training pilots in the Chinese military.”
Brown served 24 years in the US Air Force, during which he “commanded sensitive units with responsibility for nuclear weapons delivery systems, led combat missions, and served as a fighter pilot instructor and simulator instructor on a variety of fighter and attack aircraft.”
After retiring from the military in 1996, he worked as a cargo pilot before later becoming a US defense contractor, training pilots to operate the A-10 and advanced F-35 fighter jets.
Authorities allege that Brown began negotiating a contract in August 2023 with Stephen Su Bin — a Chinese national previously imprisoned in the United States for four years starting in 2016 over a separate espionage case.
Brown allegedly traveled to China in December 2023 to commence the training assignment.
Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division said the case underscores growing national security concerns.
“The Chinese government continues to exploit the expertise of current and former members of the US armed forces to modernize China’s military capabilities,” Rozhavsky said.
“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.
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