How Indian-Origin Engineer, Who Worked On B-2 Stealth Bombers, Spied For China

NDTV

7 hours ago

At the height of the Cold War, the United States of America pioneered a technology that not only gave it a strategic advantage over its adversaries, but has helped it maintain its military superiority more than six decades hence. That technology - stealth - finds relavence even today.
The B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, the world's most advanced aircraft, were used by the US in its Operation Midnight Hammer on Sunday to dismantle Iran's nuclear facilities amid Israeli claims that Tehran was on the verge of acquiring enriched uranium capable of developing a nuclear weapon.
Even today, only three countries possess stealth capability - the United States, Russia, and China. While the US first developed stealth technology in 1958, Russia, then Soviet Union, took 17 more years to attain the capability in 1974. China got it nearly four decades later, when it tested the J-20 in 2011. While the US and Russia developed its own stealth technology, China reportedly got it through espionage - and that too from an Indian-American who was found guily of those charges in 2010.
INDIAN-AMERICAN NOSHIR GOWADIA'S CONTRIBUTION
Born in Mumbai, then Bombay, in 1944, Noshir Gowadia moved to the US in the early 1960s in pursuit of a higher education in aeronautical engineering. Excelling in his field, he got a job as a design engineer at Northrop Grumman - the defence company that makes the B-2 Stealth Bombers.
His work, spanning decades, advanced the effectiveness of stealth technology. He made significant contributions to reducing the B-2 Spirit bombers' radar and infrared detection capabilities, as well as design factors to reduce its visual signatures. His contributions in the stealth aircraft's exhaust configurations and radar wave-absorbing materials were noteworthy. During his tenure, he also worked on projects to enhance the bomber's propultion system.
But Gowadia's illustrious career and his reputation faced a blot more than a decade after his early retirement from Northrop Grumman in the late 1980s. Even after his retirement, he reportedly continued handling classified information and files as a contractor with the US Government till his security clearance was taken away in 1997.
TRIPS TO CHINA
He came under the scanner over his involvement with elements linked to China, and was found guilty on two counts of espionage in 2010. He was sentenced to 32 years in prison for leaking classified military data.
According to a BBC report, during the investigation, it was revealed that Gowadia visited China several times in the early 2000s. The probe revealed that he received large sums of money, which he used to end his mortgage on a multi-million-dollar beachfront luxury villa in Hawaii's Maui island.
The investigation and court proceedings against Gowadia began in 2005, when he was arrested shortly after his latest visit to China. According to the Associated Press, he was found guilty in 2010 for 14 out of the 17 charges he faced. He was convicted for espionage, conspiracy, and for violation of the United States Arms Export Control Act. Other charges included tax evasion and money laundering.
NOT A TRAITOR?
According to India Today, during the court proceedings, the defense counsel argued that Gowadia had only shared data that was available publicly and blamed the US government for over-classifying the material. They denied that Gowadia acted as a traitor and instead, said he was just an engineer who was aiming to advance aerospace technology, not harm the United States.
The prosecution rubbished those arguments, saying that the data he shared undermines US national security by giving China access to classified military secrets about stealth technology.
According to the US Air Force, investigations revealed that Gowadia had visited military facilities during his visits to China. He even visited a testing facility to identify design flaws and other technicalities like reducing heat signatures of stealth aircraft, while giving presentations and briefings about missile and exhaust features.
An Associated Press report in 2010 stated that Gowadia had even designed a cruise missile component for China. He even demonstrated its simulated effectiveness by comparing it to American air-to-air missiles.
'A LESSON FOR OTHERS'
Besides China, Gowadia also leaked top secret military information to Germany and Switzerland.
Sentencing him to 32 years in prison in November 2010, it was noted that "Mr. Gowadia provided some of our country's most sensitive weapons-related designs to the Chinese government for money. Today, he is being held accountable for his actions," said Assistant Attorney General David Kris. "This prosecution should serve as a warning to others who would compromise our nation's military secrets for profit."
Two months after his 2010 conviction, China, in January 2011, tested its first stealth aircraft - the J-10. Five years later, in 2016, China officially announced its long-distance stealth bomber - the H-20, which resembles the US B-2 Spirit Bomber. China has kept test flight information a top secret till date.