Federal officials arrested a civilian engineer working for the U.S. Navy after he attempted to steal plans for a new aircraft carrier.

FBI agents posed undercover when they approached the Mostafa Ahmed Awwad, 35. He is in federal custody and has been charged with stealing secret plans.

FBI agents have arrested the naturalized American citizen who planned to steal and send plans of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to Egypt, according to the Associated Press. Awwad worked as a civilian engineer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard's nuclear engineering and planning department since February and had a security clearance of Secret.

Awwad tried stealing technical data on the new aircraft carrier, which is under construction at nearby Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia.

An undercover FBI agent, who spoke Arabic, approached Awwad on Sept. 18 and asked him to meet the next day, according to Navy Times. The agent, posing as an Egyptian intelligence officer, met with Awwad who boasted of his knowledge concerning U.S. military technology as well as his motives.

Awwad said "it was his intention to utilize his position of trust with the US Navy to obtain military technology for use by the Egyptian government," per the affidavit. He then agreed to remain in touch with the agent and conduct drop offs at a park in Hampton, Virginia.

Over the subsequent months, Awwad met with the undercover agent and explained his plans to circumvent military security software to download plans without setting off alarms.

Awwad also provided the agent with CAD drawings of the aircraft carrier. Many of these designs, according to the affidavit, were marked "NOFORN," which means they cannot be shared with foreigners. They also had warnings against distribution.

To continue his espionage, Awwad requested money to buy a pinhole camera and take photos inside the facility. On Oct. 23, "he retrieved $3,000 in cash before placing a one-terabyte external hard drive and two passport photos within." The FBI later collected the contents. The passport would be used to travel to Egypt incognito.

On Nov. 28, Awwad took photographs of schematics of an aircraft carrier. He was arrested a couple days later. A grand jury indicted him with two counts of attempting to export defense articles and technical data on Dec. 3.

He will appear before a detention hearing on Dec. 10.

According to Stars and Stripes, the USS Gerald R. Ford is the first of new class of nuclear aircraft carrier. She will be launched sometime in 2016.

At around $13 billion, the new carrier will have improved capabilities over the current Nimitz-class, including the ability to recover and launch 25 percent more aircraft.