In a recent ruling in the federal court in Newark, New Jersey, Chinese national Liu Sixing was sentenced to five years and 10 months in jail, in military data theft case.

Liu - who was also called Steve Liu - was sentenced for illegally exporting military trade secrets to China, during the time he was working in the space and navigation division of US' leading defense contractor, L-3 Communications.

According to the allegations, Liu violated US arms embargo by taking details on US missile, rocket and drone technology to China. Accused of taking thousands of files pertaining to an advanced version of a device
- called disk resonator gyroscope, which essentially enables drones, missiles and rockets to hit targets without satellite guidance - and other defense systems to China, Liu was convicted of export of military information, possession of stolen trade secrets, and lying to the authorities.

As per the prosecutors, Liu pilfered thousands of computer files in 2010, and used his personal computer to transport them to China, where he gave presentations about the missile, rocket and drone technology in universities and conferences associated with the Chinese government.

Noting that a license is required for taking out technical military data - covered by US export regulations - out of the country, prosecutor Paul Fishman said: "Instead of the accolades he sought from China, Sixing Liu received the appropriate reward for his threat to our national security: 70 months in prison."