A 24-year veteran in the United States Air Force who once commanded airborne units with nuclear weapons delivery systems has been charged with conspiring to train Chinese troops.
Gerald Eddie Brown, Jr, 65, was arrested Wednesday in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act by training pilots in the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said.
The Arms Export Control Act prohibits Americans from providing training or assistance to foreign militaries without a license from the State Department.
Prosecutors said Brown moved to China about two years ago to allegedly take a job as an 'instructor fighter pilot'. His arrest marked the first time he had stepped foot in the US since he went abroad, they said.
'The Chinese government continues to exploit the expertise of current and former members of the US armed forces to modernize China's military capabilities,' said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.
'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,' Rozhavsky added.
Brown retired from the Air Force in 1996 and attained the rank of major. He then held a series of jobs, including serving as an instructor to US troops and working as a commercial aircraft pilot.
'During his lengthy military career, Brown commanded sensitive units with responsibility for nuclear weapons delivery systems, led combat missions, and served as a fighter pilot instructor and simulator instructor on a variety of fighter and attack aircraft,' the Department of Justice said in a statement.
Brown began arranging his employment contract to train Chinese troops in August 2023, according to the DOJ.
In Brown's alleged conversations with Chinese national Stephen Su Bin, convicted in 2016 for stealing sensitive US military secrets and selling them to China, he repeatedly stated his intent to train Chinese pilots, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors also said that Brown was eager, allegedly telling an unnamed co-conspirator upon his arrival in China: 'Now.... I have the chance to fly and instruct fighter pilots again!'
Brown traveled to China in December 2023, and on his first day at work, he answered questions for three hours about the US Air Force, prosecutors said.
On his second day, he prepared a presentation about himself and his experience, before spending the next two years training PLAAF pilots, according to investigators.
'Brown's alleged betrayal exposed sensitive military tactics, threatening the security of our nation, our armed forces, and our allies,' said FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle.
Law enforcement officials described Brown as an 'elite fighter pilot' who once trained US troops on the F-35 Lightning II, one of the most advanced stealth aircraft in the world.
As of early this year, there are nearly 1,300 of these planes in active service in nations allied with the US. About 600 of the fifth-generation jets are being used across the US Air Force, the Navy and the Marine Corps.
Brown also served as an instructor to US pilots on at least four other fighter aircraft.
If convicted, Brown could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million per violation of the Arms Export Control Act.
The case against Brown is not the first of its kind. Former US Marine Corps pilot Daniel Edmund Duggan was charged in 2017 for training Chinese pilots and familiarizing them with aircraft carrier operations.
Duggan, a naturalized Australian citizen, was arrested in New South Wales in 2022 and has not yet been extradited to the US to face trial.
Duggan has denied the charges and has claimed the US was aware of what he was doing. He also claimed he was only training civilian pilots.
Like Brown, Duggan had communications with Stephen Su Bin, who paid for his travel from Australia to Beijing in 2012.
Duggan's lawyer, Bernard Collaery, has said Duggan was unaware of Bin's criminal activity at that time.