F-35 PILOT Caught TRAINING China

A growing trail of ex-American fighter pilots accused of training Chinese forces is exposing how Beijing quietly buys U.S. warfighting know‑how on the open market.

Story Snapshot

A retired Air Force F‑35 instructor, Maj. Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., is charged with illegally training Chinese military pilots under U.S. export laws.^[3]^[4]^[1]
Federal prosecutors say Brown conspired with foreign nationals, including a convicted Chinese hacker tied to military espionage, and traveled to China to provide combat aircraft instruction.^[2]^[3]^[1]
The Brown case mirrors earlier allegations against former Marine pilot Daniel Duggan and fits a broader pattern of Western expertise being steered into China’s military.^[5]^[3]
The law focuses on authorization: U.S. citizens cannot train foreign militaries without a specific State Department license, regardless of politics or pay.^[3]^[4]

Federal Charges Against Former F‑35 Instructor Pilot

Federal prosecutors say retired Air Force officer and fighter pilot Maj. Gerald Eddie Brown Jr. was arrested in Jeffersonville, Indiana, on February 25, 2026, and charged under the Arms Export Control Act with “providing and conspiring to provide defense services to Chinese military pilots without authorization.”^[3]^[4]^[1] The Department of Justice describes Brown, a former F‑35 instructor, as having once trained American pilots on advanced combat aircraft before allegedly turning that expertise toward the Chinese military.^[1]^[4]

According to the public complaint described in multiple reports, prosecutors allege that since at least August 2023 Brown “willfully conspired” with foreign nationals and other U.S. persons to provide combat aircraft training to pilots in the Chinese Air Force, known as the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.^[3]^[4]^[2] Federal officials emphasize that any such training for a foreign military requires a license from the U.S. Department of State, which they say Brown did not have.^[3]^[4]^[1]

How Prosecutors Say China Is Buying Western Airpower Skills

The alleged scheme, as summarized in coverage of the complaint, centers on Brown reworking a contract in August 2023 to train Chinese military pilots, then traveling to China in December 2023 to begin instruction.^[3]^[4]^[2] Reports say the complaint includes communications and résumé language where Brown “consistently stated his intent to train” Chinese military pilots in combat aircraft operations, describing his objective as “instructor fighter pilot,” which prosecutors argue shows knowledge and intent rather than an accidental business engagement.^[4]^[3]

One alleged intermediary, Chinese national Stephen Su Bin, is described in reporting as a previously convicted hacker tied to Chinese military espionage who pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiring to steal sensitive U.S. defense data.^[3]^[2] Prosecutors contend Brown coordinated with Su Bin and others to deliver training focused on “American systems and tactics,” including American-style air‑to‑air fighter tactics that could sharpen China’s combat edge if the allegations are proven in court.^[4]^[1] Officials frame the case as part of export‑control laws meant to keep U.S. war‑fighting methods out of adversary hands.^[3]^[1]

Ex-Air Force, Marine Pilots Accused of Helping China Reveal Broader Trend
Federal prosecutors accuse them of illegally helping train China's military, exposing a growing security concern https://t.co/9VN0ebpRbl

— Shadi Alkasim (@Shadi_Alkasim) June 2, 2026

A Wider Pattern: Western Pilots and China’s Military Ambitions

U.S. Air Forces in Europe–Air Forces Africa has warned that China’s People’s Liberation Army has used private companies such as Test Flying Academy of South Africa and other contractors to recruit former Western fighter pilots to train Chinese Air Force and Navy aviators, creating what officials describe as a broader, ongoing problem.^[2] Advocacy groups tracking foreign flight training add that pilot schools in the United States and Canada have also been implicated in training Chinese pilots and recruiting instructors abroad.

The pattern stretches beyond Brown’s case. The Department of Justice previously charged former Marine pilot Daniel Duggan with providing and conspiring to provide defense services to Chinese military pilots, and Australian authorities arrested him on a U.S. request while he fights extradition.^[5] Duggan and his family publicly insist he only trained Chinese civilian pilots in South Africa using open‑source material, “100 percent” denying that he knowingly trained military aviators or handled classified tactics.^[5] His fight over whether the alleged conduct is criminal in both the United States and Australia highlights how export‑control prosecutions can turn on legal definitions and licensing, not just what was taught.^[5]

Legal Lines, National Security Risks, and Open Questions

The Arms Export Control Act gives the Secretary of State authority to control export of “defense articles and services,” which federal officials say includes combat training for foreign militaries, even when the trainer is a private citizen and the content is based on personal experience.^[4]^[3] Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg stresses that when U.S. persons, “whether military or civilian,” train a foreign military without a State Department license, that activity is illegal under these export rules.^[3]^[1]

Publicly available information still reflects allegations, not convictions, and media accounts rely heavily on government summaries rather than full complaint exhibits or damage assessments.^[3]^[4]^[1] Reporting does not yet show independent documentation of the specific curricula, flight hours, or tactics Brown allegedly taught, nor quantified national‑security harm, which leaves open questions about the precise scope and impact.^[3]^[4] At the same time, national‑security officials argue that even unclassified “how to fight” experience, when sold to a rival like China, can erode America’s hard‑won edge in the skies.^[1]^[2]