Former F-35 Instructor to Stand Trial in the US for Training Chinese Pilots

A former fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jet instructor pilot will stand trial in the US for assisting China in training military pilots.

The US Department of Justice reported on this.

Former US Air Force officer and pilot Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., 65, was arrested on February 25.

He has been charged with providing defense services to the Chinese military.

The former instructor is charged with conspiracy to train pilots of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force in violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). The first court hearing in the case is scheduled for February 26.

According to the investigation, Brown had been negotiating a contract to train Chinese military pilots since at least August 2023.

In December 2023, he arrived in China, where he conducted combat aviation training and advised the military.

Investigators claim that these services fall under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and the defendant did not have the required license from the US State Department for such activities.

According to law enforcement officials, Chinese citizen Steven Su Bin, who had previously pleaded guilty in the US to conspiring to hack into the computer networks of American defense contractors and was sentenced to nearly four years in prison, was involved in the contract negotiations.

Throughout these negotiations, Brown repeatedly stated his intention to train PRC military pilots in combat aircraft operations.

The Justice Department and the FBI emphasized that unauthorized training of foreign military personnel poses a threat to national security.

Brown remained in China until he arrived in the United States in early February 2026, after which he was detained.