May 23, 1985 – Thomas Cavanaugh: Engineer and Spy

On this day in engineering history, Thomas Patrick Cavanaugh was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to sell military secrets to the Soviet Union. Standing before U.S. Federal District Judge W. Mathew Byrne, Jr., the aerospace engineer apologized to his country and his co-workers at Northrop Corporation for what he called "my disgraceful actions". Six months earlier, Thomas Cavanaugh had been arrested for trying to sell blueprints and technical manuals about the Stealth bomber to FBI sleuths posing as Soviet spies. "Before our relationship ends", Cavanaugh told the undercover agents, "I want to be independently wealthy". Later, Cavanaugh would tell Judge Byrne that money was "the sole reason" he betrayed his country and co-workers.

Thomas Patrick Cavanaugh first met with FBI agents in a motel room on December 10, 1984. After asking for several thousand dollars "just to get the bill collectors off my back", the troubled aerospace engineer explained that he couldn't talk to his handlers on the telephone "because it's constantly being bugged with microwaves". Cavanaugh also refused to surrender original documents or make photocopies. "I can't give you the documents and have them back in time," he explained. By coincidence, the contents of Cavanaugh's document-safe had been audited on the same day as this first meeting. As for photocopies, the Northrop Advanced Systems Division used what Cavanaugh called "fully controlled machines". At Northrop, copy-machine operators prevented self-service reproductions and ensured compliance with security guidelines.

Although Northrop employees were subject to random searches when entering and exiting the plant, Thomas Cavanaugh carried out larger documents and hid smaller ones underneath his shirt. When he met his handlers again on December 18, the undercover agents used a camera and portable copier to capture data about the Northrop-built Stealth bomber. Cavanaugh counted his money happily, but complained that he was unable to secure a bank loan for his side-business, an Amway franchise. A series of regular payments, he explained, would make him rich and end the financial difficulties that an upcoming Northrop security check could expose.

A knock at a motel-room door ended Thomas Patrick Cavanaugh's dreams of wealth. As FBI agents swarmed into the room, the 40-year old engineer was arrested and taken into custody. Held without bail, he spent the holidays in prison and entered a conditional guilty plea on February 26, 1985. Thanks to FBI counterintelligence operations and, to a lesser extent, Northrop's own security policies, the details of the Stealth bomber remained secret.

Resources:

https://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/russiaandtheformersovietunion/index.html?query=STEALTH%20AIRCRAFT&field=des&match=exact

https://www.amway.com/