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Chinese Flying-Wing Stealth Drone Mirrors B-2 After Engineer’s Leak

Satellite imagery revealed a new Chinese flying-wing stealth drone using stolen B-2 exhaust designs

Overview

  • Noshir Gowadia, a former Northrop Grumman engineer, was convicted in 2010 of espionage for selling classified B-2 stealth propulsion technology to China between 2003 and 2005.
  • Court documents show he received $110,000 from Chinese officials, funds he used to pay off his Maui home mortgage.
  • In May 2025 satellite photos captured by The War Zone showed a tailless, 52-meter-wingspan flying-wing stealth aircraft at a classified test facility near Malan, Xinjiang.
  • US officials and experts link the Chinese drone’s exhaust configuration and low-observable features to designs Gowadia disclosed, raising concerns about Beijing’s H-20 bomber development.
  • The US Air Force’s recent use of B-2 bombers in Operation Midnight Hammer against Iran underscores the strategic value of technologies Gowadia betrayed.