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NRI engineer of B-2 Bomber gets 32 years for selling secrets to China  

Indian-American engineer gets 32 years for selling secrets to China  

By Arun Kumar
Washington, Jan 25 , 2011: Weeks after China conducted a flight test of its new J-20 stealth fighter, a US court has sentenced a former Indian American B-2 stealth bomber engineer to 32 years for selling military secrets to China.Mumbai-born Noshir Gowadia, 66, who has been in custody without bail since his 2005 arrest, showed no emotion as Chief US District Judge Susan Oki Mollway pronounced the punishment in Honolulu Monday, according to media reports.

In August, a federal jury had convicted Gowadia of 14 counts, including conspiracy, communicating national defence information to aid a foreign nation, and violating the arms export control act. Prosecutors said Gowadia helped China design a stealth cruise missile to get money to pay the $15,000-a-month mortgage on his multimillion dollar home overlooking the ocean in Haiku on Maui.

They said Gowadia he pocketed at least $110,000 from the sale of military secrets and showing his Chinese contacts how his stealth cruise missile design would be effective against US air-to-air missiles.

Gowadia's defence attorneys said it's true the engineer gave China the design for a stealth cruise missile exhaust nozzle but he based his work on unclassified, publicly available information. Gowadia's son has said his father plans to appeal.

The sentencing comes just weeks after China conducted a flight test of its new J-20 stealth fighter during a visit to Beijing by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The Jan 11 flight was held at an airfield in Chengdu, home to the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute and is a centre for Chinese fighter aircraft and cruise missile research and development, where prosecutors say Gowadia delivered an oral presentation on classified stealth technology in 2003.

Between 2003 and 2005 Gowadia made six secret trips into mainland China and exchanged numerous communications to help Chinese defence engineers design a cruise missile that is able to evade air-to-air, heat-seeking missiles, they said.

Gowadia helped design the propulsion system for the B-2 bomber when he worked at Northrop Corp., now known as Northrop Grumman Corp, between 1968 and 1986.

Gowadia moved from India to the US for postgraduate work in the 1960s and became a US citizen about a decade later. He retired from Northrop for health reasons in 1986, two years before the B-2 made its public debut.

Gowadia moved to Maui in 1999 from the US mainland where he had been doing consulting work after retiring from Northrop.........ians/ NRIPRESS

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NRI engineer of B-2 Bomber arrested for selling secrets

Honolulu, November 01, 2005
Asha Chopra

NRI, (non-resident Indian) engineer, Noshir S Gowadia called himself a father of the technology that protects the B-2 stealth bomber from heat-seeking missiles has been arrested and accused of selling U.S. military secrets involving the aircraft to a foreign country, the FBI said.

From November 1968 to April 1986, Gowadia worked for Northrop Grumman Corp., which was involved in the design and manufacture of the B-2 Spirit Bomber, the FBI said. During his tenure with the company, Gowadia worked in the development of the aircraft's propulsion system. Gowadia and his wife own an engineering and consulting company. Gowadia was born in India and is a naturalized U.S. citizen.


The B-2 is a strategic, long-range bomber that can fly more than 6,000 miles before refueling while carrying 40,000 pounds of conventional or nuclear weapons, according to Northrop Grumman's Web site.

Its stealth design allows it to fly virtually undetected by enemy radar at a ceiling of 50,000 feet. During Operation Allied Force and Operation Enduring Freedom, the bomber performed missions up to 44 hours long, according to the company.



There are 21 B-2s in service, and all are stationed with the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.


 

 

 

 



NRI, (non-resident Indian) engineer, Noshir S Gowadia called himself father of the technology that protects the B-2 stealth bomber


Noshir Sheriarji Gowadia
Age: 61
Background: Gowadia helped develop the B-2 stealth bomber while he was an engineer at Northrop Corp., and was instrumental in the creation of a defense system for heat-seeking missiles. After 18 years at Northrop, he went on to become a contract engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

Gowadia own Company

State records show that Gowadia headed a research and development, engineering and consulting company called N.S. Gowadia Inc., which was incorporated in New Mexico and was licensed to do business here. He and his wife were listed as officers for the company.

Gowadia and his wife in June 1999 purchased a two-acre lot on Holokai Road on Maui for $330,000, according to county property records. At the time, the couple listed a New Mexico mailing address.

In 2002, a 6,790-square-foot home with 11 rooms and two fireplaces was built on the Holokai Road property, the records show. For tax purposes, the county in 2004 assessed the value of the home and land at nearly $1.64 million.

Neighbors yesterday said they did not know Gowadia or his wife well.

REAL STATE :

That wasn't their first venture into the Hawai'i real-estate market.

In July 1999, the couple bought a Kihei condo from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for $75,000, then sold it in May 2001 for $121,000, property records show.

HUD typically sells homes lost by previous owners through foreclosure.

In February 2001, they purchased a home in Kihei for $350,000, then sold it in October 2003 for $575,000, according to the records.

The couple took out a $2.9 million loan this year, county records show, but it wasn't clear what the loan was for.