The son of a Maui resident accused of selling secrets about the B-2 stealth bomber to foreign countries says the charges are the result of a "misunderstanding" and that his father is an "American hero" whose work has saved many lives.

Ashton Gowadia arrived from California yesterday to attend a detention hearing in federal court for his father, Noshir Gowadia.

Noshir Gowadia, 61, a former engineer for a defense contractor, is charged with one count of "willfully communicating national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it." If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

"The man bleeds red, white and blue for this country and he has done a lot of things that have saved a lot of American military lives," the younger Gowadia said outside federal court after the brief hearing yesterday.

"I understand the government's position because right now we're at war and so you have to be careful and you have to check out everything," he said. "But in this case, I'm very confident that he's innocent."

Ashton Gowadia was able to meet with his father for a few minutes yesterday to help arrange legal representation.

"He's fine. He's confident. He knows that it's going to get cleared up," Ashton Gowadia said.

In the hearing, U.S. Magistrate Barry Kurren agreed with federal prosecutors that Noshir Gowadia posed a flight risk and was a danger to the community, and ordered him held without bail. Gowadia, who appeared in court shoeless and in leg shackles, was returned to the Federal Detention Center after the brief hearing.

Noshir Gowadia was an engineer for Northrop Corp. and worked on the sophisticated technology that hides from detection the infrared signals generated by the B-2 bomber's propulsion system.

In an affidavit filed this week in U.S. District Court, the FBI said Gowadia disclosed classified military secrets about the aircraft to eight foreign governments.

The federal government also alleges that Gowadia traveled abroad to train foreign nationals using the secret information.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson yesterday told Kurren that "vast amounts of classified information" have been found on computers seized during a search of Gowadia's Ha'iku home. Sorenson said more than 14,000 files that "are of concern to the Air Force" were found on one computer and that this information might have been copied and stored elsewhere.

Because of Gowadia's international contacts and "significant activities" in foreign countries, Sorenson argued that Gowadia would pose a danger to the community if he were set free on bail. Sorenson said Gowadia's own safety is a concern because his contacts know that he has been arrested, but they don't know what he may reveal to the government.

Sorenson said Gowadia has cooperated with the government so far in the investigation.

Federal Assistant Public Defender Donna Gray argued that the charge against Gowadia was not for a violent or drug-related offense and did not merit the request for no bail. She suggested that if he were allowed to post bail, he could be placed under supervision and be required to stay on O'ahu. The federal public defender's office is representing Gowadia until he finds private counsel.

"This case does raise very serious issues," Kurren said in agreeing to the prosecution's recommendation for no bail. "In my view, he does pose a flight risk."

Kurren said the allegation against Gowadia is "quite serious."

That view was echoed yesterday by an expert in the economics of national security who said the allegation against Gowadia potentially has huge financial implications that can shift the balance of power in some international hotspots.

"The damage done by this type of espionage is immense in economic costs," said Michael Keane, a lecturer at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. "What could have cost (the U.S.) billions of dollars to develop could have been sold for a few thousands of dollars."

During Gowadia's tenure at Northrup from 1968 to 1986, he was the principal architect of the B-2's infrared suppression system.

Any hostile foreign government that obtains such material would get an invaluable jump in developing stealth aircraft of their own — or in countering the advantage the U.S. now has with its bombers — and that could affect the balance of power in that part of the world, Keane said. "That has the potential to impact future conflicts, especially in places like the flashpoint between China and Taiwan."

The federal government in a court document said Gowadia admitted disclosing the secrets for financial reasons.

That would be consistent with other recent espionage cases in which monetary gain, not political ideology, was the motivating factor, Keane said.

Because foreign governments can get such valuable technology for so cheap, expect more such cases, he added. "This kind of problem is going to continue and continue and continue."

Gowadia's son said the government has mischaracterized his father. "Everybody, when they read this stuff, they think, 'Oh, my god, what has this guy done?' But it isn't anything like what they said," he said, declining to elaborate. "I'm very confident that this is a misunderstanding that's blown way out of proportion. I'm going to get the right people in Washington involved because this is a man that has done a lot of heroic things. You wait and see who comes to bat for him." He declined to say who those people are or which law firm has been selected to represent his father.

Ashton Gowadia said he doesn't believe his father's case will ever go to trial, because he "didn't damage the country at all."

In court documents, the government said Noshir Gowadia has told investigators 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."

In addition to working at Northrop Corp., Gowadia worked as a subcontractor at Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.