The government says Noshir Gowadia sold classified U.S. defense secrets about the B-2 stealth bomber to China for less than $85,000.

Gowadia's lawyer says the information is meaningless because the Air Force already had released it and the intelligence did not help the Chinese at all.

Lawyers for the government and Gowadia presented opening statements to the jury yesterday in the espionage trial of the man who marketed himself as the father of the B-2 bomber. The trial is expected to run into July.

Gowadia, 66, is facing charges that he helped the Chinese develop a cruise missile capable of evading heat-seeking air-to-air missiles. He is also facing charges that he sent classified information to the Swiss government and businesses in Israel and Germany, as well as money laundering and tax evasion.

From 1967 to 1986 he worked for giant defense contractor Northrop Corp., where he helped design the B-2's unique propulsion system. He then formed his own business, continuing to work with the U.S. military.

In 1992 the government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded him a contract to try to find ways to reduce the visibility of water vapor trails left by jet engines.

When the government expanded the project without him, Gowadia got angry and wrote letters to government officials and his congressman trying to get back on the project, said federal prosecutor Kenneth Sorenson.

Defense lawyer David Klein said Gowadia wanted to resume work on the project because he “;felt he could save American lives,”; adding, “;He wanted to help his country as he did before.”;

Sorenson said Gowadia was angry because he “;felt disrespected in this country.”;

Gowadia bought some land on Maui in 1999. In 2003 he signed a construction contract to build a luxury home on a 2-acre site overlooking the ocean. He now faces forfeiture of the home to the government.

Sorenson said when an expected Australian contract fell through, Gowadia needed money to pay his mortgage, which was $14,000 per month by 2005. So Gowadia and a business associate approached the Chinese government, he said.

He said the Chinese government paid Gowadia $15,000 cash on his first trip. It later sent payments of $19,980 and $49,000 to Gowadia's secret Swiss bank accounts, he said.

Klein said the cruise missile exhaust nozzle Gowadia helped the Chinese government develop did not do what he said it would.

“;He knew he was giving the Chinese nothing,”; Klein said. “;The Chinese got nothing.”;

He said Gowadia sold information that he did not believe was classified.