Engineer charged with selling military secrets

updated 5:51 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2005

HONOLULU - An engineer who calls himself the 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.

Noshir S. Gowadia, 61, of Haiku was arrested Wednesday.

According to the FBI, Gowadia in 2002 faxed a document detailing infrared technology classified top secret by the Air Force to a foreign official. He also provided classified information to two other countries, the FBI said.

The government would not identify the countries or disclose how much he allegedly received.

Gowadia was an engineer with Northrop Grumman Corp. from 1968 to 1986 and had helped design parts of the B-2’s propulsion system that make the bomber difficult to be seen by enemy missiles. The technology remains highly classified.

He was jailed without bail on a charge of willfully communicating national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it, an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

It was not immediately known whether he had a lawyer.

According to state records, Gowadia and his wife own an engineering and consulting company.

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