U.S. authorities have arrested a Chinese national for allegedly transporting sensitive proprietary information for the development of titanium used in the manufacture of U.S. Air Force fighter jets, according to the Connecticut district attorney's office.

Yu Long, 36, a Chinese citizen and former Connecticut resident, was arrested in early November and charged with transporting and transferring stolen or fraudulent interstate and foreign commerce goods. If found guilty, Yu will face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, Defense News relayed.

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Yu had been on his way to China when New Jersey Newark Liberty International Airport officials detained him after having discovered "sensitive, proprietary and export-controlled" information from a defense contractor outside Connecticut in his luggage. The documents reportedly contained computations and test results on titanium used in U.S. military aircraft.

He was arrested two days later at his Ithaca home in New York.

Last August, customs officials detained Yu after a return flight from Beijing for possession of US$10,000 in undeclared cash, a work application for a state-run aerospace and aviation research facility in China, and corporation registration papers for China.

From 2008 to May 2014, Yu had been working as a senior engineer with a major Connecticut-based defense contractor.

While case documents failed to identify the corporation, the job application customs officials found in Yu's possession claimed the 36-year-old had worked on the F-135 and F-119 engines used for the F-35 and F-22 fighters, both manufactured by Pratt & Whitney based in Connecticut.

A source cited by Defense News said the Chinese national was employed by the United Technologies Research Center, the mother company of Pratt & Whitney which is headquartered at Connecticut.

A spokesperson for the company has declined to comment on the case, citing ongoing investigations although the statement assured the corporation's full cooperation with authorities.

Analysts speculate documents Yu had allegedly been smuggling out of the country likely belonged to Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's leading weapons supplier and prime contractor for the F-35 and F-22 fighters.

Initial investigations suggest Yu's employer and the contractor outside Connecticut had shared technical findings to save on production costs. Given both major defense contractors' involvement, experts believe the information is likely linked to the F-35.

The U.S. has long-suspected China of corporate espionage on the country's No. 1 weapons contractor, Lockheed Martin, which has only been fuelled by the release of the Chinese J-31, a near-identical twin of the U.S. F-35.

TagsYu Long, corporate espionage, Military spying, China-U.S. relations, U.S. Air Force, Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed Martin, Military and defense security, J-31