In a statement issued here, the Indian Navy said the matter has been taken up with the French Director General of Armaments, “expressing concern over this incident and has requested the French government to investigate this incident with urgency and share their findings with the Indian side”.
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The first of the Scorpene class submarines being built in India, the INS Kalvari, took part in sea trials in May and is expected to be inducted soon in the Indian Navy.
French defence contractor DCNS has been hit by a massive leak of secret data on its submarines likely to alarm India, Malaysia and Chile which use the boats, The Australian newspaper reported Wednesday.
The Indian Navy’s cyber experts, considered to be some of the best cyber experts in India, also looked for traces of possible leaks from computers in India and the cyber trail of the documents published by newspapers. The data, however, was thought to have been removed from France in 2011 by a former French navy officer who was, at the time, a subcontractor for DCNS.
Indian officials said the question of invoking the indemnity clause with DCNS is being studied but it can only be pursued after the source of leak is confirmed. This serious matter is thoroughly investigated by the proper French national authorities for defence security. The Scorpene, made by French firm, DCNS, is now being used by Malaysia and Chile, and Brazil is also due to deploy the sub in 2018. “We have the highest security protections on all of our defence information, whether it is in partnership with other countries or entirely within Australia”, Turnbull told Channel Seven.
Navy sources, meanwhile, maintained there is nothing to be alarmed about as the data does not pertain to any of the Scorpene submarines now being built in Mazgaon Docks, Mumbai.
“I understand there has been a case of hacking”, Parrikar told reporters.
DCNS this year signed a contract with Australia for the manufacture of 12 submarines.
“It appears that the source of leak is from overseas and not in India”, the statement said.
“A case of suspected leak of documents related to Scorpene submarines has been reported by a foreign media house”, its statement said.
The project for the construction of six Scorpene class submarines, with DCNS as collaborator and MDL as builder, includes transfer of technology.
According to the report, DCNS has said that such a leak of technical data could not happen with its proposed submarine for Australia.
Sensitive data on submarines designed for India’s navy have leaked from a leading French shipbuilder with military customers around the world.
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Information included in the leaked documents cover sensitive details such as specifications relating to the submarine’s combat and stealth capabilities, and magnetic, electromagnetic and infrared data.
