A former fighter pilot in the United States Air Force, once entrusted with flying some of America’s most advanced combat aircraft, has been arrested for allegedly training pilots from China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) without authorisation, the US Department of Justice said.
In a press release on Wednesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that 65-year-old Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., also known by his call sign “Runner”, was taken into custody in Jeffersonville, Indiana, shortly after returning from China this month. According to a press release issued on Wednesday, Brown spent three years in China from 2023 to 2026.
He was expected to make his initial court appearance in the Southern District of Indiana on Thursday.
He faces charges of providing and conspiring to provide defence services to Chinese military pilots without the required authorisation from the State Department, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
Brown, a US citizen, served more than 24 years in the Air Force until 1996, reaching the rank of Major. He commanded units responsible for nuclear weapons delivery systems and led combat missions.
More recently, he worked as a contract simulator instructor for US defence contractors, training American pilots on the A-10 and F-35.
According to the complaint, Brown began “conspiring” with foreign nationals and US persons as early as August 2023, to provide combat aircraft training to PLAAF pilots.
He reportedly revised contracts with help from a co-conspirator, who has not been identified, linked to Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national convicted in 2016 for hacking US defence networks on behalf of China and stealing sensitive military and export-controlled data.
Su Bin was sentenced to nearly four years in prison, while he and his company, PRC Lode Technology Company, had already been blacklisted by the US Commerce Department in 2014.
In December 2023, Brown travelled to China to begin the training. On his first day, he answered questions for three hours about the US Air Force. On his second day, he presented a brief about himself to PLAAF personnel, according to the DOJ.
“The United States Air Force trained Major Brown to be an elite fighter pilot and entrusted him with the defence of our Nation. He now stands charged with training Chinese military pilots,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky added that Brown “allegedly betrayed his country by training Chinese pilots to fight against those he swore to protect”.
The Chinese embassy in Washington declined to comment.
John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Communist Party, issued a statement on Thursday regarding the charges.
He said the case “again highlights how China targets servicemembers and Americans from all walks of life to steal information and innovation from our country”.
“The Trump Administration is doing critical work to investigate and prosecute Chinese espionage, and I hope justice is determined quickly and fairly,” Moolenaar added.
The case is the latest in a string of similar allegations and related actions in recent years.
Just last month, the DOJ filed a forfeiture action against two Anti-Submarine Warfare Crew Trainers. The department alleged that these were mobile classrooms being shipped from the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) to China.
Test Flying Academy of South Africa is a private, South African-owned company, which was sanctioned by the US Commerce Department in 2023.
In October 2022, Daniel Duggan, a former pilot in the US Marine Corps, was arrested in Australia at the request of the United States after returning from China.
US prosecutors accuse Duggan of training Chinese military pilots at TFASA between 2010 and 2012, including teaching carrier landing techniques used on aircraft carriers.
They also allege he had links to Su Bin, including sharing a business address in Beijing.
Despite the Australian government approving Duggan’s extradition in 2024, he remains in custody in New South Wales as he exhausts his final rounds of legal appeals.
In late 2022, British intelligence also warned that China had recruited dozens of former Royal Air Force pilots, some reportedly offered more than US$270,000 a year.
Britain later updated its National Security Act, making it a crime for former military personnel to provide such training to certain foreign powers without government approval. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
