German federal prosecutors Wednesday charged a 54-year-old Austrian man with espionage, alleging he fed Russian security services with details of helicopter designs, officials said.

A statement from the federal prosecutors' office said that Harald Alois S. is suspected of working for the Russian SVR agency between 1997 and 2002, and had procured technical information on civil and military helicopter designs.

He is believed to have earned at least $10,500 for the services. He has not been taken into custody.