B-2 engineer guilty of spying

HONOLULU – A federal jury convicted a former B-2 stealth bomber engineer Monday of selling military secrets and helping China design a stealth cruise missile.

Noshir Gowadia was accused of pocketing at least $110,000 from China, which he allegedly used to pay the mortgage on a multimillion-dollar ocean-view home he built on Maui’s north shore.

Gowadia, who has been in federal custody since October 2005, faces life in prison when he is sentenced in November.

The 66-year-old gave China a design for a cruise missile component and then showed its effectiveness when compared to United States’ air-to-air missiles, according to federal prosecutors.

“This verdict sends a very clear message that no, you can’t do that, and we can take care of our business here in American courtrooms when that happens,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said.

Gowadia’s defense attorneys argued during the nearly four-month trial that while it’s true he gave China the design for the cruise missile exhaust nozzle, he based his work on unclassified, publicly available information. Gowadia plans to appeal.

Gowadia was convicted on 14 of 17 counts, including conspiracy, violating the arms export control act, tax evasion and money laundering. He was acquitted on charges of knowingly communicating national defense information.

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.

Prosecutors argued that Gowadia helped China design a cruise missile exhaust nozzle that would give off less heat, allowing the cruise missile to evade infrared radar detection and U.S. heat-seeking missiles.