Californian Chengguang Gong, a dual US-Chinese citizen, has admitted to stealing more than 3,000 secret files on US sensor technologies for detecting nuclear and hypersonic missiles. His goal is to transfer these developments to Beijing.
In just four months of working at a Los Angeles research company, Gong managed to steal more than 3,600 files containing drawings of the latest infrared sensors for satellite tracking of missile launches. These technologies help US military aircraft detect and avoid heat-seeking missiles. According to the FBI, the stolen data includes data on next-generation integrated circuits, sensor cooling schemes and designs for high-precision analog-to-digital converters.
Most of the files were marked “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY” and “EXPORT CONTROLLED,” and their combined value is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars. Some of the data was stored on personal flash drives found during a search of his temporary residence in Thousand Oaks, California.
According to the investigation, Gong had been working for various U.S. defense companies since 2014 with the long-term goal of transferring his work to the Chinese government. He had repeatedly applied to the “Talent Program,” a Chinese initiative to recruit specialists with sensitive information in the field of military technology. His proposals included night-vision sensors, helmet systems, and radar accuracy analysis. In one video, he even showed the model number of a device he had been working on at an American defense company.
This case is not an isolated story of espionage, but evidence of how intelligent technologies on the front lines of future warfare are becoming targets of rival states. The convergence of knowledge, espionage, and geopolitics is gaining new momentum. Gong’s trial is scheduled for September 29, but the case has already strengthened the US position in negotiations to limit technology transfers to China.
