WASHINGTON: The US Justice Department announced on Wednesday the arrest of Gerald Brown, a retired Air Force pilot, accused of training Chinese military personnel without proper authorization.
Brown, 65, was taken into custody in Indiana after returning from China, where he had been since December 2023.
Officials allege he conspired with foreign nationals to provide combat aircraft instruction to Chinese Air Force pilots without a required license from the US State Department.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed on X that Brown, a former officer with 24 years of service, had allegedly trained Chinese pilots.
Major story… the FBI and our partners have arrested a former U.S. Air Force Pilot who was allegedly training pilots in the Chinese military pic.twitter.com/Y7razDr16y
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) February 26, 2026
During his career, Brown commanded sensitive units responsible for nuclear weapons delivery, led combat missions, and served as both a fighter pilot and simulator instructor, according to AFP.
After retiring in 1996, Brown worked as a cargo pilot and later joined a defense contractor role, training pilots on A-10 and F-35 aircraft.
Authorities say he began negotiating a contract in August 2023 with Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national previously imprisoned in the US for espionage, before traveling to China in December 2023 to start the training.
Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division said, “The Chinese government continues to leverage the expertise of current and former US service members.
This arrest shows the FBI and its partners will hold accountable anyone assisting adversaries in ways that threaten US forces or national security.”
