China’s Stealth Aircraft: A Bold Move Following U.S. Military Actions

As the U.S. initiated a high-precision strike with its B-2 Spirit bombers targeting Iran’s underground nuclear facilities, an unsettling scene unfolded thousands of miles away.

On an isolated airstrip in western China, an ominous flying machine emerged—strikingly resembling the B-2 in form and function. This was not mere imitation, but the result of nearly twenty years of ambition and deception, orchestrated by an ingenious Indian-American engineer who previously held some of the Pentagon’s most sensitive secrets.

The Revelation of China’s New Stealth Aircraft

New satellite images from The War Zone taken on May 14, 2025, unveiled a flying-wing stealth aircraft stationed at a secret test facility located close to Malan, Xinjiang. This site is among China’s most clandestine military installations. With an impressive wingspan of 52 meters, a tailless structure, and a distinctive bat-like shape, this aircraft bore a remarkable resemblance to the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.

The timing of this revelation provoked intrigue, but it is the background story that elevates it to a thrilling geopolitical saga.

The Backstory: Espionage that Reshaped Military Technology

Nearly two decades ago, in 2005, the FBI executed a raid on an extravagant $3.5 million villa perched on a cliff in Haiku, Maui. Their target was Noshir Gowadia, an engineer born in Mumbai who played an essential role in crafting the B-2’s highly classified exhaust system—a technological marvel designed to evade both radar and infrared detection.

Known internally at Northrop as “Blueberry Milkshake,” Gowadia wasn’t just a cog in the machine; he was among its original creators.

During the raid, agents uncovered a trove of highly classified documents, intricate schematics for stealth technology, and emails connecting him with Chinese state personnel.

Gowadia had embarked on several secretive trips to Chengdu and Shenzhen—cities integral to China’s military industry—where he showcased presentations to Chinese officials on how to render cruise missiles invisible to radar and thermal sensors. For his efforts, he reportedly received over $110,000, funneled through offshore accounts and Swiss financial institutions.

Consequences of Gowadia’s Betrayal

At that time, U.S. prosecutors cautioned that Gowadia’s disclosures could lay the groundwork for a next-generation Chinese stealth capabilities. They proved to be accurate in their warnings.

The aircraft recently spotted in Xinjiang is anticipated to be a high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) stealth drone—potentially serving as a testing platform for technologies related to the H-20 bomber, which is China’s answer to the B-2. The newly established hangars and fortified shelters at Malan, coupled with the site’s closeness to nuclear facilities and the practicality of the craft, imply that this is far from a mere prototype. This marks the initiation of operational readiness.

While the H-20 project was first introduced in 2016, it had remained largely speculative—discussed in briefings and featured in computer-generated imagery, yet never publicly revealed. That status changed this month. The dimensions of the drone, closely mirroring the B-2’s wingspan of 52.4 meters, along with its flying-wing configuration, minimal heat signature, and absence of vertical stabilizers, distinctly indicate a borrowed strategy.

The Admission of Espionage

This strategy can be traced back to a figure who stated, “The entire geometry [of the B-2 exhaust] came from me.” Currently serving a 32-year term in the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, Gowadia conceded in his final testimony to the FBI, “What I did was espionage and treason… I shared military secrets with the PRC.”

Beijing has adeptly done more than reverse-engineer remnants from defeated NATO aircraft. It has also skillfully inverted trust, using vanity, financial incentives, and grudges to its advantage.

As B-2s roar through the skies over Iran while Chinese drones awaken in Xinjiang, this new Cold War is not just a struggle for aerial supremacy. It is unfolding across generations, where secrets are stolen quietly and military machines arise from betrayal.