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UPDATED
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.
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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.
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