Indian American charged with selling stealth secrets to China
Nov 24, 2006 - 4:27:08 PM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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B-2 bombers are regularly deployed for short periods of time on Guam as part of what the Pentagon is calling its 'hedge' strategy to be ready to deal with a Chinese threat in the future.
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By RxPG News Service,
[RxPG] Washington, Nov 24 - China obtained secret stealth technology used on B-2 bomber engines from a Hawaii-based Indian American spy in a compromise US officials say will allow Beijing to copy or counter a key weapon in the Pentagon's new strategy against China, according to a local daily.
Details of the classified defence technology related to the B-2's engine exhaust system and its ability to avoid detection by infrared sensors were sold to Chinese officials by former defence contractor Noshir S. Gowadia, an India-born citizen charged with spying in a federal indictment released by prosecutors in Hawaii, the Washington Times reported Thursday.
Additionally, Gowadia provided extensive technical assistance to Chinese weapons designers in developing a cruise missile with an engine exhaust system that is hard to detect by radar, according to court papers made public recently.
He also helped the Chinese modify a cruise missile so it can intercept US air-to-air missiles and helped Chinese weapons designers improve testing and measurement facilities, the court papers state.
Most of the indictment, handed up Nov 8, outlines how the engineer helped China develop a radar-evading stealth exhaust nozzle for a cruise missile engine.
Additionally, the court papers indicated that Gowadia sent e-mails to Israel, Germany and Switzerland in 2002 and 2004 that contained data labelled 'secret' and 'top secret'. These were related to US stealth technology intended for use in the TH-98 Eurocopter and for foreign commercial aircraft.
One computer file found in Gowadia's Maui, Hawaii, home was a file containing the radar cross-sections of US B-1 and F-15 jets and the Air Force's air-launched cruise missile, information that would be useful to countering those systems by anti-aircraft missiles or other air defence weapons.
The case is the second major military technology espionage case involving China. Earlier this year, two China-born brothers in Los Angeles were arrested as suspects in passing Navy warship and submarine weapons secrets to China, the Times said.
In all, Gowadia is charged with making at least six secret visits to China from 2002 through 2005, and being paid at least $110,000 by Chinese officials for highly classified defence technology supplied through January, according to court papers.
Investigators think he was paid as much as $2 million, some of which remains in foreign bank accounts.
Gowadia worked for B-2 developer and manufacturer Northrop Aircraft Inc. from 1968 to 1989 as part of an ultrasecret special access programme for the B-2, and later as a Northrop contractor involved in classified research on missiles and aircraft. He also worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1990s.
He developed the still-secret method used by military aircraft to suppress infrared signals from the engine that blocks heat-seeking missiles from targeting the jet.
US officials familiar with the case said the compromise of the B-2 technology is extremely damaging because it will give China key secrets on the bomber, the daily said.
A defence official cited by Times said the case highlights China's intelligence efforts to counter key weapons systems that give the US strategic advantages over Chinese forces. 'The B-2 is at the head of the list of their intelligence targets,' said the official.
The Pentagon recently completed a major upgrade of bomber storage facilities on the Pacific island of Guam as part of a new strategy designed to position forces in Asia for a swift defeat of China in a future conflict.
B-2 bombers are regularly deployed for short periods of time on Guam as part of what the Pentagon is calling its 'hedge' strategy to be ready to deal with a Chinese threat in the future.
Gowadia has pleaded not guilty to the charges and his son, Ashton Gowadia, told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that the charges against his father are false. A trial is scheduled for July.
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