This article is more than 1 year old

French submarine builder DCNS springs leak: India investigates

The French are said to be going ballistic

India is investigating a security breach affecting its French-built Scorpene-class submarines after more than 22,000 pages covering its secret capabilities were leaked.

First reported in The Australian, the documents offer details on the designs of the submarines, which were put together by French company DCNS.

Based on the Scorpene design, and dubbed the Kalvari class, the first diesel-electric boat is due to enter service by the end of this year.

The Australian posted redacted excerpts from the leaked documents on its site, and reported it had seen thousands of pages offering details of the Scorpene’s underwater sensors, above-water sensors, its combat management system, its torpedo launch system and specifications, and its communications and navigation systems.

According to Reuters, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters: “I understand there has been a case of hacking. We will find out what has happened.”

India bought six submarines from DCNS back in 2005, costing roughly US $3.5bn in total. DCNS outbid Germany’s ThyssenKrupp, as well as a Japanese government-supported bid by a Mitsubishi and Kawasaki joint venture, to win the Australian contract.

According to Reuters, a DCNS spokesperson said the company wouldn’t immediately authenticate the documents but additionally did not “rule out that the leak was part of an ‘economic war’ waged by the competitors it beat in the contest for the Australian contract.”

Devastating impact

Excerpts of the documents which were posted on The Australian’s website contained critically sensitive information on the submarine, a political source with “decades of experience in the global arms industry” told Reuters.

Including technical manuals and models of the boat’s antennas, the leak exposes the new submarines' secrets in an unforgivable way: “If it’s 22,400 pages, it’s a major stuff-up, it’s a huge deal. It allows them to understand everything about the submarines. What speeds it can do; how noisy it is; what speeds the mast can be raised at… all of that is just devastating,” said Reuters’ source.

The set-back to the Indian Navy comes while its existing fleet of 13 subs – only half of which are operational at any time, according to Reuters – are trying to contest China's maritime presence in the Indian Ocean.

A statement from the Indian Navy confirmed that the available information about the leak “is being examined at Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Navy) and an analysis is being carried out by the concerned specialists.”

The Navy added: “It appears that the source of leak is from overseas and not in India.”

The Australian noted that DCNS won a bid to design 12 vessels for Australia’s new submarine fleet back in April, and the leak threatens the stealth advantages for the new submarines being designed for Oz.

DCNS has not responded to The Register's requests for comment by the time of publication. ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like