A federal judge in Hawaii sentenced Noshir Gowadia, 66, a former Northrop Grumman engineer who worked on the B-2 stealth bomber decades ago, to 32 years in prison for selling military secrets to China. “This case has set the example for interagency cooperation focused singularly to protect Americans from harm,” said Brig. Gen. Kevin Jacobson, commander of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, in a Justice Department release on Monday’s sentencing. A jury convicted Gowadia in August on 14 counts, including willfully communicating classified national defense information to the Chinese government and other unauthorized individuals, violating the Arms Export Control Act, conspiracy, and money laundering. US officials said the information he provided assisted the Chinese in developing a stealthy cruise missile. Gowadia, a naturalized US citizen, has been in custody without bail since his 2005 arrest.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.