July 21: Chenguang Gong (龚晨光), a dual 
/
citizen and a former engineer at Malibu-based HRL Laboratories, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of trade secrets — technologies developed for use by the US government to detect nuclear missile launches, track ballistic and hypersonic missiles, and to allow US fighter planes to detect and evade heat-seeking missiles.
Gong remains free on $1.75M bond.
Gong transferred more than 3,600 files from HRL, owned by Boeing / GM and specializing in sensors and applied electromagnetics R&D, to personal storage devices during his brief tenure there last year.
The files Gong transferred include blueprints for sophisticated IR sensors designed for use in space-based systems to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles, as well as blueprints for sensors designed to enable US military aircraft to detect incoming heat-seeking missiles and take countermeasures, including by jamming the missiles’ IR tracking ability. Some of these files were later found on storage devices seized from Gong’s temporary residence in Thousand Oaks.
In Jan 2023, HRL hired Gong as an ASIC design manager responsible for the design, development and verification of its IR sensors. From ~Mar 30, 2023 to his termination on Apr 26, 2023, Gong transferred thousands of files from his work laptop to 3 personal storage devices, including more than 1,800 files after he’d accepted a job at one of HRL’s main competitors.
Many of the files Gong transferred contained proprietary and trade secret information related to the development and design of a readout IC that allows space-based systems to detect missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles and a readout IC that allows aircraft to track incoming threats in low visibility environments.
Gong also transferred files containing trade secrets relating to the development of “next generation” sensors capable of detecting low observable targets while demonstrating increased survivability in space, as well as the blueprints for the mechanical assemblies used to house and cryogenically cool HRL’s sensors. This information was among HRL’s most important trade secrets that are worth hundreds of millions of $$$. Many of the files had been marked “HRL LABORATORIES PROPRIETARY,” “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY,” “PROPRIETARY INFORMATION,” and “EXPORT CONTROLLED.”
Law enforcement also discovered that, between ~2014 and 2022, while employed at several major tech companies in the US, Gong submitted numerous applications to ‘Talent Programs’ administered by the government.
In 2014, while employed at a Dallas IT company, Gong sent a business proposal to a contact at a high-tech research institute in China focused on both military and civilian products. In his proposal, Gong described a plan to produce high-performance ADCs like those produced by his employer.
In another Talent Program application from Sep 2020, Gong proposed to develop “low light/night vision” image sensors for use in military night vision goggles and civilian applications. Gong’s proposal included a video presentation that contained the model number of a sensor developed by an international defense, aerospace, and security company where Gong worked from 2015 to 2019.
Gong travelled to China several times to seek Talent Program funding in order to develop sophisticated ADCs. In his Talent Program applications, Gong underscored that the high-performance ADCs he proposed to develop in China had military applications, explaining that they “directly determine the accuracy and range of radar systems” and that “[m]issile navigation systems also often use radar front-end systems.” In a 2019 email, Gong remarked that he “took a risk” by traveling to China to participate in the Talent Programs “because [he] worked for…an American military industry company” and thought he could “do something” to contribute to China’s “high-end military integrated circuits.”
justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/e
/ citizen and a former engineer at Malibu-based HRL Laboratories, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of trade secrets — technologies developed for use by the US government to detect nuclear missile launches, track ballistic and hypersonic missiles, and to allow US fighter planes to detect and evade heat-seeking missiles.
Gong remains free on $1.75M bond.
Gong transferred more than 3,600 files from HRL, owned by Boeing / GM and specializing in sensors and applied electromagnetics R&D, to personal storage devices during his brief tenure there last year.
The files Gong transferred include blueprints for sophisticated IR sensors designed for use in space-based systems to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles, as well as blueprints for sensors designed to enable US military aircraft to detect incoming heat-seeking missiles and take countermeasures, including by jamming the missiles’ IR tracking ability. Some of these files were later found on storage devices seized from Gong’s temporary residence in Thousand Oaks.
In Jan 2023, HRL hired Gong as an ASIC design manager responsible for the design, development and verification of its IR sensors. From ~Mar 30, 2023 to his termination on Apr 26, 2023, Gong transferred thousands of files from his work laptop to 3 personal storage devices, including more than 1,800 files after he’d accepted a job at one of HRL’s main competitors.
Many of the files Gong transferred contained proprietary and trade secret information related to the development and design of a readout IC that allows space-based systems to detect missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles and a readout IC that allows aircraft to track incoming threats in low visibility environments.
Gong also transferred files containing trade secrets relating to the development of “next generation” sensors capable of detecting low observable targets while demonstrating increased survivability in space, as well as the blueprints for the mechanical assemblies used to house and cryogenically cool HRL’s sensors. This information was among HRL’s most important trade secrets that are worth hundreds of millions of $$$. Many of the files had been marked “HRL LABORATORIES PROPRIETARY,” “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY,” “PROPRIETARY INFORMATION,” and “EXPORT CONTROLLED.”
Law enforcement also discovered that, between ~2014 and 2022, while employed at several major tech companies in the US, Gong submitted numerous applications to ‘Talent Programs’ administered by the government.
In 2014, while employed at a Dallas IT company, Gong sent a business proposal to a contact at a high-tech research institute in China focused on both military and civilian products. In his proposal, Gong described a plan to produce high-performance ADCs like those produced by his employer.
In another Talent Program application from Sep 2020, Gong proposed to develop “low light/night vision” image sensors for use in military night vision goggles and civilian applications. Gong’s proposal included a video presentation that contained the model number of a sensor developed by an international defense, aerospace, and security company where Gong worked from 2015 to 2019.
Gong travelled to China several times to seek Talent Program funding in order to develop sophisticated ADCs. In his Talent Program applications, Gong underscored that the high-performance ADCs he proposed to develop in China had military applications, explaining that they “directly determine the accuracy and range of radar systems” and that “[m]issile navigation systems also often use radar front-end systems.” In a 2019 email, Gong remarked that he “took a risk” by traveling to China to participate in the Talent Programs “because [he] worked for…an American military industry company” and thought he could “do something” to contribute to China’s “high-end military integrated circuits.”
justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/e
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Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
HRL Laboratories LLC is the company which Gong Chenguang worked at.
HRL Laboratories is a R&D lab specializing in sensors and applied electromagnetics in Malibu, owned by Boeing and General Motors.
"When HRL became aware of suspicious activity being conducted by Gong, the x.com/Byron_Wan/stat…
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