Gowadia was a longtime employee of defense contractor Northrup and one of the designers of the U.S. military’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. He is believed to have conceived of and designed the B-2’s propulsion system, which protects the bombers from heat seeking missiles. He was arrested in 2005 and accused of selling classified information to the People’s Republic of China, and sending classified information to individuals in Germany, Israel and Switzerland. In addition to selling information related to the B-2’s propulsion system, Gowadia is alleged to have performed consulting work for the PRC, who were looking to create a cruise missile exhaust system nozzle with a low heat signature. Gowadia was convicted in August, 2010 for passing military secrets to the Chinese and using knowledge gained doing classified work for the U.S. government to help the PRC to design a stealth cruise missile. Gowadia received an estimated $100,000 for his information – money he apparently used to help pay a $15,000/month mortgage on a luxury home in Hawaii.
(Photo via futureatlas.com / sunrise Flickr photostream / Gowadia family handout)
