Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the US-China relations myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
The US has charged a former air force fighter pilot with illegally training Chinese military pilots in the latest example of defence and intelligence personnel being accused of undermining security by helping China.
The justice department on Wednesday charged Gerald Brown, a retired F-15 and F-16 fighter jet pilot, with violating the law by training People’s Liberation Army Air Force pilots without the required approval from the US government.
“The US Air Force trained Major Brown to be an elite fighter pilot and entrusted him with the defence of our nation. He now stands charged with training Chinese military pilots,” said John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney-general for national security.
Eisenberg said the national security division would “use all tools at its disposal to protect our military advantages and hold to account” anyone who violated the Arms Export Control Act by giving unapproved training.
Brown was arrested in Indiana on Wednesday. The 24-year-career pilot, whose call sign was “Runner”, also previously worked as an instructor pilot for the advanced F-35 fighter jet.
The justice department alleged that Brown went to China in late 2023 to train pilots and stayed until early 2026. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s counter-intelligence and espionage division, said China continued to “exploit the expertise” of current and former US military personnel to modernise its armed services.
“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 . . . jeopardise our national security,” Rozhavsky said in a statement.
The indictment follows similar charges against Daniel Duggan, a former US Marine Corps pilot accused of illegally training Chinese pilots on the tactics needed to perform difficult take-offs and landings on aircraft carriers. Duggan was arrested in Australia in 2022 and is fighting extradition to the US.
In a joint warning in 2024, the US and its partners in the Five Eyes intelligence network — the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — said the PLA was “aggressively recruiting” western pilots to train its air force.
Concerns about alleged PLA recruiting intensified after revelations in 2022 that the Test Flying Academy of South Africa, a private flight training school, had used more than two dozen retired British air force, navy and army pilots to train Chinese military pilots.
The Five Eyes’ warning said China was offering high pay for trainers. The UK defence ministry at the time said 30 former Royal Air Force pilots were offered annual salaries of up to £237,000 to train PLA pilots.
