The Story of Noshir Gowadia: From engineering genius behind B-2 stealth bomber to convicted spy

As the United States’ B-2 stealth bombers dominate headlines following their recent deployment in strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, the story of Noshir S. Gowadia, once celebrated as a visionary engineer behind the aircraft’s design, has gained traction once again. Before receiving a 32-year prison sentence for selling American military secrets to China, Gowadia, an Indian-American engineer, was a significant contributor to the development of America's most sophisticated strategic bomber.

 

Gowadia was born into a Parsi family in Bombay, India, in 1944. According to Live Mint, he was frequently referred to as a prodigious talent, reportedly obtaining a PhD by the age of 15. He became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 1969 after moving to the United States at the age of 19 to pursue a degree in aeronautical engineering. Within a year, he joined Northrop Corporation (now Northrop Grumman) at a time when the U.S. was desperately trying to address vulnerabilities revealed during the Yom Kippur War and the Vietnam War.

 

His contributions would soon become fundamental. Over nearly twenty years, Gowadia played an instrumental role in the development of the B-2 Spirit bomber’s propulsion system, designing its exhaust to be imperceptible to radar and infrared sensors. As reported by India Today, this innovation gave the U.S. military a significant technological advantage in stealth warfare, making the B-2 nearly undetectable and capable of carrying up to 30,000-pound bombs.

 

However, Gowadia’s tenure at Northrop came to an end in 1986, allegedly due to a rare blood disorder. Around the same time, he purchased a luxury villa in Maui, Hawaii, which came with a hefty mortgage. As Live Mint observes, financial strain seems to have driven him down a darker path.

 

Gowadia made six covert trips to China between 2003 and 2005, using aliases and fake identities. The Hindustan Times claims that during these trips, he gave Chinese officials defence-related assistance, including design data, technical briefings, and analysis to aid in the development of a cruise missile's stealth exhaust nozzle. Prosecutors later disclosed that China paid him at least $110,000 in exchange for his services.

 

Gowadia also revealed classified design information to individuals in Switzerland, Israel, and Germany, according to India Today. It was speculated that the information he divulged had a direct impact on the making of China's long-range stealth bomber, the H-20. Analysts believe the development commenced in the early 2000s, when Gowadia served as a consultant, even though China made the project public in 2016.

 

His espionage, nevertheless, soon came to light. In October 2005, the FBI raided Gowadia’s Hawaii home, seizing over 500 pounds of classified documents, digital storage devices, and blueprints. Several indictments resulted from the evidence that was uncovered. The U.S. Air Force subsequently verified that Gowadia had breached the Arms Export Control Act by providing unapproved parties with classified national defence information, according to The Economic Times.

 

In 2010, after a nearly four-month trial, Gowadia was convicted on 14 out of 17 federal charges, including conspiracy to communicate national defence information to aid a foreign nation, money laundering, and filing false tax returns. David Kris, then Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced that “Gowadia provided some of our country’s most sensitive weapons-related designs to the Chinese government for money,” a statement carried by The Hindustan Times.

 

Despite his defence team’s argument that he had only shared publicly available information and that the U.S. government had over-classified materials, the jury remained unconvinced. They were particularly influenced by a PowerPoint presentation Gowadia had created for the Chinese, which explained stealth nozzle designs, predicted performance metrics, and included confidential test data.

 

As reported by Popular Mechanics, Gowadia once held top-level security clearance and even taught advanced aeronautical principles at American universities. But those credentials only deepened the gravity of his betrayal.

 

Gowadia is currently serving a 32-year sentence and is still regarded as one of the most scandalous individuals in the history of modern espionage. His contributions to the B-2 Spirit are still indisputable, but so are the results of the secrets he exposed. Noshir Gowadia's legacy is both a technological milestone and a warning story as international tensions rise and stealth warfare develops.

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