A retired U.S. Air Force fighter pilot faces federal charges for allegedly delivering a briefing to Chinese military aviators on the F-35 platform and electronic warfare, according to court filings in his case.
Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., 65, a former USAF major who left active duty in 1996 after 24 years of service, was arrested on February 25, 2026, in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The U.S. Department of Justice accuses him of providing unauthorized defense services to pilots of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), violating the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Brown lacked required licensing from the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
FBI interviews with a former Royal Moroccan Air Force pilot, who worked with Brown in China, detail a presentation Brown gave at a Beijing military conference in July or August 2024. The talk covered U.S. Air Force structure, electronic warfare history, and the F-35, as noted in a government motion filed March 24, 2026.
Prosecutors allege Brown began negotiating a training contract in August 2023 through a co-conspirator linked to Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national convicted in 2016 for hacking U.S. defense contractors. Brown traveled to China in December 2023, held 15 to 20 meetings with Chinese intelligence, and admitted to FBI agents on February 25 and 26, 2026, that he provided PLAAF briefings and recognized Su Bin as a senior intelligence figure. Chinese officers installed software on his computer to download files, court documents state.
Brown, who later instructed U.S. pilots on A-10 and F-35 simulators for defense contractors, used encrypted apps like Threema and WeChat, aware of U.S. monitoring of China-linked networks, according to the complaint.