At the turn of the century, the Chinese government found itself in a bit of a military conundrum. It was lagging behind in the global race to develop advanced aircraft—way behind.
Look at what China had flying in the air compared to the United States at the time, and the defense predicament became very clear. The U.S. had a new prize in its fleet, the revolutionary Northrop B-2 Spirit bomber, while China only had older, out-of-date technology to rely on. The Chinese military instead flew a fleet of aircraft lacking in modern innovation, hinging mostly on design principles based on 1950s and ‘60s Soviet airplanes. The planes paled in comparison to the B-2, which could fly through airspace virtually undetected thanks to some incredible improvements in heat-reduction technologies utilized in the aircraft’s engine and exhaust systems.
So there’s no question why information on a state-of-the-line stealth bomber would have been of top interest to Chinese intelligence at the time. And that’s where one expert who helped construct the B-2 aircraft stepped into the picture. Government officials say he unlawfully sold U.S. secrets and helped China build its own stealth line—one with aircraft that has seemingly similar features to its American counterparts.
This riveting Popular Mechanics feature details the case of U.S. engineer and defense contractor Noshir S. Gowadia, who was found guilty in 2010 of violating the Espionage Act and Arms Export Control Act for illegally revealing classified information on the B-2 and additional projects to China and other countries. According to government officials, Gowadia, one of the key experts who helped craft the B-2’s cutting-edge features, gave classified design details to Chinese engineers and officials, including information on developing a low-observable exhaust nozzle that would reduce the infrared heat signature for missiles.
The origin story of the high-powered B-2 stealth bomber by defense contractor Northrop begins in the 1970s, when the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense and Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) launched a program to find a solution for reducing aircraft radar detectability. Two decades of work later, and the B-2 officially went into service in 1997.
With a flying-wing design, the aircraft looked like a literal boomerang in the sky, and it had a reduced radar cross section and unique propulsion system that made it aerodynamic, powerful, and almost impossible to track. Its range of 6,000 nautical miles, 40,000-pound ordnance capacity, and ability to travel 10,000 nautical miles on just one midair refueling made it the ideal choice for carrying out missile strikes well behind enemy lines.
Gowadia was one of Northrop’s veteran engineers who was crucial to the B-2’s stealth propulsion system build. Part of the then-classified program task force, he worked for seven years on the bomber’s tailpipe to make it virtually impossible to detect on conventional and infrared radar. He even had a code name while working on the top-secret aircraft design: “Blueberry Milkshake.”
But fast forward to the 1990s, and Gowadia watched his status within the U.S. defense industry disappear, thanks to a project dispute with DARPA. By 1997, he no longer had security clearance. That led Gowadia to start his own consulting business—and eventually take on China as a customer willing to pay for his engineering services and secrets, according to investigators.
Throughout 2003 and 2004, the U.S. government says Gowadia met with Chinese officials in Hong Kong to help them along with their stealth technology development, specifically with engineering a low-observable exhaust nozzle for reducing the infrared signature on a Chinese cruise missile. At Gowadia’s subsequent trial, an FBI testified that Gowadia had studied the lock-on range of China’s cruise missile against U.S. air-to-air missiles, and put his analysis in a PowerPoint presentation given to Chinese officials. Gowadia’s indictment said he even traveled to Beijing in 2004 to observe exhaust nozzle testing first-hand.
Eventually, U.S. officials caught on to Gowadia, and spent years gathering information on him before serving a search warrant at his home in Hawaii and arresting him in October 2005. He’s currently serving a 32-year prison sentence in USP Florence ADMAX, a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Gowadia’s final statement written and signed on October 26, 2005 admitted guilt for sharing classified secrets with China:
“On reflection what I did was wrong to help the PRC make a cruise missile. What I did was espionage and treason because I shared military secrets with the PRC.”
And perhaps it’s no surprise that in 2016, the Chinese Air Force announced its own engineering of a stealth bomber, the H-20. Though China has revealed few details about the aircraft, which is still reportedly in development, experts have noted that it looks quite similar to the U.S.’s star B-2 bomber and its successor, the B-21 Raider. Many believe the H-20 can carry 10 tons of bombs across 4,970 miles—which could prove dangerous for nearby U.S. territories like Guam.
Those aircraft advances China had been striving to make for years may have been aided by none other than Gowadia himself.
Explore more about one of the most high-profile espionage investigations in U.S. history by reading Pop Mech’s feature story now.
Ashley is Editor of Content Hype at Hearst’s Enthusiast & Wellness Group. She is a former collegiate runner at UNC Asheville where she studied mass communication. Ashley loves all things running; she has raced two marathons, plus has covered some of the sport’s top events in her career, including the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials and multiple World Marathon Majors.
