WASHINGTON — Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., a former fighter pilot who later worked as a contract F-35 simulator instructor, was charged by federal complaint with providing and conspiring to provide unauthorized defense services to Chinese military pilots after federal agents arrested him in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Feb. 25, 2026.
Prosecutors say Brown traveled to China in December 2023 to train pilots from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force without the State Department authorization required under U.S. export-control law, according to a Justice Department statement. The complaint accuses Brown of using U.S. military experience — including fighter and simulator instructor work — in a way prosecutors say could help a foreign military sharpen combat aviation capabilities.
What the Gerald Eddie Brown Jr charges allege
Brown, 65, also known by the call sign “Runner,” is accused of violating the Arms Export Control Act by providing defense services without approval from the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. Under the federal definition of defense service, regulated activity can include training foreign persons or foreign military units in the use of defense articles, including formal or informal military instruction.
The Justice Department said Brown served more than 24 years in the Air Force, left active duty in 1996 with the rank of major, commanded sensitive units tied to nuclear weapons delivery systems and worked as a fighter pilot instructor and simulator instructor on aircraft including the F-4 Phantom II, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and A-10 Thunderbolt II. After leaving the service, Brown worked as a commercial cargo pilot and later trained U.S. military pilots as a contract simulator instructor on the A-10 and F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that federal documents describe Brown as repeatedly stating his intent to train Chinese military pilots in combat operations. Prosecutors say he began arranging contract terms in August 2023 through a co-conspirator who negotiated with Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national who pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiring to hack major U.S. defense contractors and steal sensitive military and export-controlled data.
Why the F-35 instructor angle raises concern
The F-35 detail is central to why the case has drawn wider attention. Brown is not accused in the public charging announcement of transferring F-35 hardware, but his later work as a contract F-35 simulator instructor could have exposed him to training methods, tactics and operational knowledge that U.S. officials try to protect from foreign militaries.
The War Zone reported that Brown left active-duty service decades before the F-35 entered operational use but later worked as a contractor training U.S. pilots in simulators. That distinction matters: the alleged risk is not that Brown flew the F-35 for China, but that simulator and instructor experience can still carry valuable insight into U.S. fighter training culture, tactics and procedures.
Reuters, citing the Justice Department, reported that Brown allegedly remained in China until early February 2026 before returning to the United States, and that China’s embassy in Washington declined to comment on the case. The same Reuters report placed the arrest within a broader U.S. concern that Beijing has sought Western military expertise to modernize its armed forces.
Older cases show a longer pattern
The Brown case did not emerge in a vacuum. In October 2022, the British government said it was taking steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes targeting serving and former British military pilots after reports that former pilots had gone to train members of China’s People’s Liberation Army.
The warnings broadened in 2024. Reuters reported in June 2024 that Five Eyes intelligence partners warned China was using private companies in South Africa and China to hire former fighter pilots, flight engineers and air operations personnel from Western countries to train Chinese air force and navy aviators.
Federal prosecutors also compared Brown’s case with that of former U.S. Marine Corps pilot Daniel Edmund Duggan, who has denied allegations that he trained Chinese military pilots. In May 2024, a Sydney magistrate ruled Duggan could be extradited to face U.S. charges tied to alleged Chinese military pilot training, including aircraft carrier landing instruction.
What comes next
The charge against Brown is a criminal complaint, not a conviction. Federal prosecutors must prove the allegations in court, and Brown is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case nevertheless underscores a growing counterintelligence concern: experienced pilots and instructors can carry knowledge that is valuable even after leaving uniform. For U.S. officials, the Gerald Eddie Brown Jr prosecution is less about one retired officer’s résumé than about whether former military expertise is being recruited, packaged and exported to help China close gaps in combat aviation training.
