US Justice Division accuses former Air Pressure officer Gerald Brown of coaching Chinese language army pilots.
A former United States Air Pressure officer and “elite fighter pilot” has been arrested and accused of betraying his nation for illegally offering coaching to Chinese language army pilots.
The US Division of Justice stated ex-Air Pressure Main Gerald Brown, as soon as recognized by his pilot’s name signal “Runner”, was arrested on Wednesday in Indiana and charged with a prison criticism for offering and conspiring to offer defence providers to Chinese language pilots with out authorisation.
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Brown, 65, a former F-35 Lightning II teacher pilot with a long time of expertise within the Air Pressure, “allegedly betrayed his nation by coaching Chinese language pilots to combat in opposition to these he swore to guard”, Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director on the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, stated in a press release.
“The Chinese language authorities continues to take advantage of the experience of present and former members of the US armed forces to modernise China’s army capabilities. This arrest serves as a warning,” Rozhavsky stated.
US Legal professional Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia stated Brown “and anybody conspiring in opposition to our Nation” shall be held accountable for his or her actions.
In response to the Justice Division, Brown served within the US Air Pressure for twenty-four years, had led fight missions and was liable for commanding “delicate items”, together with these concerned in nuclear weapons supply methods.
After leaving the US army in 1996, Brown labored as a business cargo pilot earlier than working as a defence contractor coaching US pilots to fly F-35 and A-10 warplanes.
Brown is alleged to have travelled to China in December 2023 to start his work coaching Chinese language pilots, and he remained within the nation till returning to the US in early February 2026.
His contract to coach Chinese language pilots was negotiated by Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese language nationwide who in 2016 pleaded responsible and was sentenced to 4 years in jail for conspiring to hack a defence contractor within the US to steal army secrets and techniques for China, in keeping with the Justice Division.
The division stated Brown faces fees just like these levelled in opposition to former US Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan, who was arrested in Australia in 2022 and is at the moment preventing his extradition again to the US, the place he faces prosecution for violating the US Arms Export Management Act for offering pilot coaching to the Chinese language armed forces.
Duggan appeared in an Australian courtroom in October 2025 to attraction in opposition to his extradition, which was authorised in December 2024 by Australia’s then Legal professional Common Mark Dreyfus.
Duggan, 57, a naturalised Australian citizen, was arrested by Australian police in 2022 shortly after getting back from China, the place he had lived since 2014.
In response to the Reuters information company. Duggan’s lawyer, Christopher Parkin, advised the courtroom that his consumer’s extradition to the US was “uncharted territory” for Australia.
He argued that his consumer’s conduct was not an offence in Australia on the time or when the US requested extradition, and so didn’t meet the requirement for twin criminality in Australia’s extradition treaty with the US.
The governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US printed a discover in 2024 warning present and former members of their armed forces that China was in search of to recruit them and different NATO army personnel with a purpose to harness Western army experience and bolster its personal capabilities.
“The perception the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] features from Western army expertise threatens the protection of the focused recruits, their fellow service members, and US and allied safety,” the discover said.
“These offering unauthorized coaching or experience providers to a overseas army can face civil and prison penalties,” it added.
