A  U.S. naval flight officer has been detained and will soon face military and civilian trials after he was allegedly caught passing military secrets to China by naval authorities, reports from the US Naval Institute (USNI) said.

Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin, a navy officer with extensive experience in handling the Navy's most sensitive intelligence gathering aircraft, was charged with several counts of espionage and other related military violations during last Friday's hearing at Norfolk, Virginia.

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Reports said Lin had an extensive background in signals intelligence and headed several departments in the US Navy including the Hawaii-based Special Projects Patrol Squadron Two Wizards (VPU-2) that flew the Aries II signals intelligence aircraft.

Electronic signals

Lin was a former Taiwanese national before his family migrated to the U.S. and had served the navy as a signals intelligence specialist on the Lockheed Martin EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance aircraft for several years.

In his last job in the navy, Lin was in charge of managing the collection of electronic signals from the Aries II aircraft. Details of the methodology of how the US gathers signals from potential enemies are among the military's top secret.

Top secret

The US navy said Lin had with him the secret of how the US gathers signals intelligence following his stint as a flight officer and the service believes that this was one of the secrets Lin allegedly gave to China.

Reports said that the military security was jeopardized, adding that Lin's alleged passing of state secrets to China can allow enemies to devise ways to counter US surveillance.

Other details of the evidence relating to Lin's violations are currently classified.

Espionage

Based on the charges, the navy accused Lin of transporting secret information outside of US and lied about his trip upon returning to duty.

The charges also stated that Lin committed two counts of espionage during several occasions and attempted to commit espionage three times.

Aside from allegedly passing secrets to China, Lin was also charged for violating military laws for allegedly committing adultery and hiring prostitutes.

Tagsespionage, military secrets, US Navy, Lt. Cmdr. Edward C Lin, signals intelligence gathering, Aries II, Taiwanese national, electronic signals, military trial