The US Department of Justice announced that an engineer holding American and Chinese nationalities acknowledged before a federal court on charges of stealing highly sensitive defense information, including advanced missile technologies and sensor systems used in space and military aircraft, in a case that sparked renewed security concerns amid indications of his association with Chinese governmental polarization programs.
The ministry stated that the accused, Chenguang Gong, 59, worked for a short period in a company specialized in research and development in the city of Los Angeles, whose name was not revealed, before completing his services in April 2023. During that period, he transferred more than 3600 digital files to personal storage devices, in a clear breach of security protection procedures and data confidentiality.
According to the indictment, these files were seized at his residence in southern California, and included sensitive information about infrared sensor systems designed for early detection of nuclear missile launchers and tracking ballistic missiles and sound excessive, along with technologies that enable military aircraft to monitor thermal threats and deal with them with advanced disturbance measures.
The stolen documents also included technical charts to develop the next generation of low -randage sensors, and others related to mechanical assemblies responsible for the protection and cooling of these highly sensitive systems. The market value of the stolen information was estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Investigations showed that the accused, who holds American citizenship in 2011, had previously applied to join the Chinese “talent program”, a government initiative aimed at attracting scientists and experts in vital fields, in line with the strategic goals of China in the fields of economics and defense.
According to the documents, Gong communicated with Chinese academic and industrial agencies for years, offering technical proposals, most notably a night vision sensor, and also presented a design for a digital signal with military uses during his communication with a Chinese technical university in 2014, and later traveled to China on several occasions in order to search for financing for his technical projects.
The American prosecution estimated the losses resulting from the leakage of this data at about 3.5 million dollars, and the final judicial ruling is expected to be issued against the accused on September 29, as he may face a prison sentence of up to ten years.
This issue comes in light of the escalation of American warnings about continuous attempts by Chinese bodies to steal advanced technology, especially in the sectors of defense, aviation and space, at a time when relations between Washington and Beijing are increasingly tense against the background of cybersecurity and industrial espionage files.
