A former U.S. Air Force major with F-35 instructor credentials was arrested this week for allegedly training Chinese military pilots. Gerald Eddie Brown, Jr., 65, was taken into custody in Indiana after a criminal complaint accused him of providing unauthorized defense services to the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). This individual is alleged to have willingly thrown his loyalty to country aside and opted instead to put a few shekels in his pocket and strengthened China’s combat capabilities.
This arrest is the latest data point in a persistent strategy by the PRC to acquire both Western hardware and the tactical expertise required to weaponize it. Just weeks ago, in mid-January, the DOJ filed a forfeiture action against two Mission Crew Trainers (MCTs) interdicted in Singapore.
Former USAF aviator goes to China
Brown, whose background made him a high-value target for PRC intelligence, allegedly spent over two years in China delivering the kind of tactical insight the U.S. spends decades and billions to cultivate. His resume provided a roadmap of critical U.S. aviation capabilities:
- Strategic Depth: Commanded units responsible for nuclear weapons delivery.
- Modern Edge: Served as a contract simulator instructor for the F-35 Lightning II.
- The Su Bin Link: Negotiated his recruitment through a co-conspirator of Stephen Su Bin. the Chinese national who pled guilty in 2016 to hacking U.S. defense contractors, was sentenced to 46 months in prison, credited with time served and returned to China in 2017.
The Su-Bin connection
Su Bin’s connection with Chinese aviation is well known and was highlighted in a 2018 WIRED piece which detailed Su Bin’s modus operandi. Of import is that when Su Bin was leading the data theft efforts his targets included the C17, F-35, F-22 Raptor. According to the DOJ, Su Bin is active in China’s aviation circles.
Fast forward, Su Bin negotiated on Brown’s behalf, his contract with the PLAAF. Brown arrived in China in December 2023. According to the complaint, his arrival was met with an immediate “knowledge dump”: three hours of direct questioning on U.S. Air Force operations followed by tactical briefings to PLAAF personnel. He remained in-country until early February 2026.
It is important to understand, Brown was not hoodwinked, he was not blackmailed, he was not coerced. Brown, according to the DOJ wrote that his “objective” was to serve as an “instructor fighter pilot.” He commented to a co-conspirator, that he, Brown, “Now, I have the chance to fly and instruct fighter pilots again.”
A Pattern of Exploitation
The Brown case represents the most recent evolution of a recruitment pipeline we have documented for years. It shares direct operational DNA with the case of Daniel Edmund Duggan, the former U.S. Marine Corps pilot arrested in Australia.
Duggan stands accused of providing unauthorized training to Chinese military pilots in South Africa, specifically focusing on aircraft carrier approach and landing techniques using a T-2 Buckeye trainer. Like Brown, Duggan is alleged to have utilized offshore intermediaries and shell companies to mask the ultimate end-user of his services.
When we view these cases alongside the January 15, 2026, forfeiture action involving the P-8 Poseidon MCTs, the PRC’s synchronized procurement web becomes clear:
- Maritime & ASW (2026): The interdiction of MCT simulators in Singapore (Project Elgar).
- Naval Aviation (Duggan): The recruitment of Marine pilots to bridge the carrier-landing gap.
- 5th Gen & Nuclear (Brown): The acquisition of F-35 instructor expertise and strategic command insights.
- NATO aviation – Eurofighter and recruitment of UK, Germany and other nationalities.
Counterintelligence reality
The involvement of the Su Bin network, should not surprise anyone, he returned to China and went right back to work. How he and Brown connected is not immediately clear. Given the depth of mining effort that China engages on social networks and in open source research, it is not beyond the pale that Brown percolated up and into their sight-line, or perhaps he did some rudimentary research and identified Su Bin and that he was back in China.
What we must retain, is that China is always targeting, always assessing, always developing and always recruiting. They have flogged their “talent programs’ for years and can be expected to continue to morph these programs so that they may leapfrog technological advantages of a potential adversary, the United States.
- Experience is the Commodity: The PLA is looking for the instincts and methodologies of an instructor that cannot be reverse engineered from a stolen blueprint. We spoke to the topic of Bounty-as-a-Service, we can expect to see it raise its head for the foreseeable future.
- The AECA has no “Unclassified” Loophole: Under the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), providing “defense services” including training. It is illegal without a State Department license. There is no legal defense based on the claim that the information shared was “publicly available.”
- The Intermediary is the Hook: As seen in past alerts, recruitment often begins under the guise of “consulting.”
China isn’t stopping
“The Chinese government continues to exploit the expertise of current and former members of the U.S. armed forces to modernize China’s military capabilities. 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,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.
The forfeiture in Singapore proved we can stop the containers. The arrest of Gerald Brown proves we are still struggling to secure the experts. The PRC is systematically checking off the list of U.S. tactical advantages. These arrests are just a bump in the road for China, vigilance is the defense, as China is not going to stop and they are banking on others to be as greedy or needy.
