“Father of the B-2” arrested

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Breaking news today (thanks for the tip Vikram) is that U.S. citizen Noshir S. Gowadia, the self-proclaimed “father” of the B-2 stealth bomber’s propulsion system, has been arrested for espionage. The Honolulu Advertiser reports on the resident of Hawaii:

Noshir S. Gowadia traveled the world, billed himself as the “father” of the B-2 stealth bomber’s propulsion system, and disclosed classified military secrets about the high-tech aircraft to foreign governments, the federal government says.

The FBI’s criminal case against Gowadia, contained in a seven-page complaint made public yesterday, alleges that the entrepreneur and engineer provided eight countries with stealth secrets, in two instances going abroad to train foreign nationals using classified information.

Gowadia, a former design engineer for Northrop Grumman and later a subcontractor at Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico, told investigators that he “disclosed classified information and material both verbally and in papers, computer presentations, letters and other methods to individuals in foreign countries with the knowledge that information was classified,” the criminal complaint states.

“I used examples based on my B-2 … experience and knowledge,” the Maui resident told investigators. “At that time I knew it was wrong and I did it for the money.”

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p>As of yet the Feds have not released which countries were involved in the transfer of the classified data. If convicted he could face up to 10 years in prison as well as fines.

According to the criminal complaint, Gowadia traveled to foreign countries to teach courses on “low observable and stealth technologies as they relate to passive aircraft defense systems such as infrared suppression.”

During one trip in December 1999, Gowadia allegedly taught a course in an unnamed foreign country using material stored on a laptop computer. Air Force classification officers reviewed the material he used and determined that the course was classified, the criminal complaint said.

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p>This guy apparently sang like a canary upon being arrested. You almost feel sorry for him. A lot of these high tech scientist guys just want a lil’ respect after a long life of doing great work in secret. It’s the Willy Loman effect. Even though Gowadia wasn’t entrapped, his story reminds me a lot of Hemant Lakhani’s (who was the subject of a brilliant This American Life episode).

But Gowadia was not shy about talking about his background, said the neighbor, who did not want to be identified for privacy reasons. He said Gowadia referred to himself as “the father of stealth technology” and told his neighbor on their first meeting that he had an IQ of 220.

Gowadia also told the neighbor he grew up in a poor family in Bombay, India, and that he had given millions of dollars to charities outside of Hawai’i.

The neighbor said Gowadia spoke of stealth-type work he was doing to make commercial airliners “invisible” to missiles.

The Advertiser has written a superb article. I liked this particular fact:

The roof line of the spacious home resembles the shape of the B-2 stealth bombers Gowadia helped design.

That’s wicked cool (thanks for the pic Manish). Gives me ideas for my own dream home. Here is another gem:

“He said he was interested in applying his knowledge of stealth technology to the practice of meditation,” the neighbor said.

13 thoughts on ““Father of the B-2” arrested”

  1. he could face up to 10 years in prison as well as fines

    That’s it?!!

    Gowadia also told the neighbor he grew up in a poor family in Bombay

    That would be the first poor Parsi that I’ve come across.

    M. Nam

  2. “I used examples based on my B-2 … experience and knowledge,” the Maui resident told investigators. “At that time I knew it was wrong and I did it for the money.”

    By the looks of that house, the money must have been really really good

  3. well… maybe there is a reason for the glass ceiling folks? I do know of a person who was DQ’ed on a job with lanl because of significant family presence back in india – timed right after the nuke tests – my feelings when i heard of that – if a govt lab is doing experiments that’d rouse moral conflict within a citizen of the usa, maybe the govt lab shouldnt be running these experiments in the first place – our man noshar seems to be in it for the coin alone.

  4. Like you said Abhi, you almost feel bad for him. He did it for the attention and the money. You sign paperwork and get a clearance knowing that whatever you do, stays within. You have experience in the Govt. (NASA right?).

    Can’t blame a scientist for wanting so recognition, but knowing the implications of giving up sensitive information (technology that can be used AGAINST the United States) and divulging information beyond getting a pat on the back is different. I have no sympathy for him. He’s a big boy and knows the consequences of his actions.

    Dude’s a traitor, not just some scientist who got drunk at party and boasted a bit about is accomplishments.

  5. A bit of digging around unearthed some interesting details about stealth technology not being quite as “invisible” as the boffins would have you believe. An “X Files” like coverup/conspiracy to hide that information seems to be going on:

    Stealth detection system disappears from screens

    A British research and development company, which claims to have invented a method to detect stealth aircraft, has clammed up on details about its technology. The system uses a traditional mobile phone network to detect stealth aircraft as they pass silently through the ether. Although the aircraft have advanced coatings which absorb conventional radar signals, they apparently still reflect back enough radiation emitted from mobile phone masts to be detected by special ground receivers. The receivers are linked to a central computer which – in sync with a GPS satellite – is able to position the aircraft to within 10 metres. The central computer could conceivably be a simple notebook operated by ground troops. Once exposed, the stealth aircraft would be easy prey for convential ground-to-air missiles.

  6. Shit. He had to go and ruin a great run.

    In 2000 I went to a meeting of the American Physical Society where there was a panel discussion of the issue of spying in the United States. This was after the Wen Ho Lee case had blown over (which had, incidentally, opened while we were all at the Centennial American Physical Society meeting in Atlanta the year previous) and also while the DOE was trying to decide what to do about India and Pakistan’s nuclear bomb tests. At the time people (physicists) were more irate over the holdup at Fermi Labs because the DOE was threatening to not let the Indian portion of the collaboration install their contribution, and also b/c some bureaucrat wanted to remove the Indian flag from the Fermi flag lineup. (I believe the scientist director said that if they tried to do that, he would have to remove all the flags, including the American one.) But there was also some discussion of the proposition which had been batted around (and I think soundly shot down) of making DOE scientists wear badges which identified them as native or naturalized citizens, and if naturalized, announced their place of birth.

    Now somebody there—John McTague? William Colglazier? I wish I had kept my notes handy–had had access to a classified report on the statistics of people considered by the government to have been engaged in technical espionage. And that person had said, at that time, that the only known example of someone engaged in technical espionage in the United States who was not a native citizen was Klaus Fuchs. Granted, his espionage was sort of the mother of all espionage, but it’s still a striking statistic. No other immigrant was considered by the government to have betrayed their new country.

    I just want to throw that out. This guy has tainted the impressive figure, but it’s still pretty impressive.

  7. … the only known example of someone engaged in technical espionage in the United States who was not a native citizen was Klaus Fuchs.

    Maybe not technical espionage, but certainly stealing classified docs: there was an Israeli-American if I recall correctly, and recently a Filipino-American, to go along with the native-born turncoats.

  8. Hmm, Manish, I think the Fillipino was after the 2000 panel. So at least Gowadia didn’t single handedly take it down.

    Israeli-American is tricky b/c both countries can often equally claim the person, and if the parents are American citizens the actual place of birth does not matter.

  9. It seems more than likely that Ali Mohammed the Eqyptian born ex-U.S. Special Forces sergeant passed on the weapons/explosives training and tactics as well as other classified military information he received while in the U.S army to Al Qaeda members. Oddly he has not received as much coverage in the press as one would think such a sensational case should.

  11. Israeli-American is tricky b/c both countries can often equally claim the person, and if the parents are American citizens the actual place of birth does not matter.

    Israelis and French have had some of the most active spy networks in the United States with the later focusing more on industrial espionage.

  12. mainsh,

    jonathan jay pollard was a naval inteligence officer and Aragoncillo, a marine. neither were scientists working in labs……i gowadia is more a loud-mouth (just reading this post)

    So Saheli’s early statement still holds true.