“The detailed assessment of potential impact is being undertaken by a high level committee constituted by the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Navy is taking all necessary steps to mitigate any probable security compromise”, the statement by the Navy said.
Advertisement
Terming the leak of classified documents as a “serious matter”, DCNS, a French defence major, said in a statement that the issue is being thoroughly investigated by the French national authorities for defence security.
The navy is also conducting an internal audit to eliminate the possibility of any security compromise.
New Delhi, Aug 24 The leaked data on the Scorpene submarine may threaten its stealth element, former Indian Navy chief, Admiral Arun Prakash said on Wednesday, adding it has to be first established how relevant the leaked information is.
However, DCNS said its contract with Australia was for a different class of submarine, and any technical specifications contained in this leak do not relate to those vessels.
Although the 22,000-page cache of documents date from 2011, they give very detailed technical information about the combat capability of the Scorpene vessels, which are now in use in Malaysia and Chile.
DCNS, which is also vying for submarine contracts in Norway and Poland, beat Germany’s ThyssenKrupp AG and a Japanese-government backed bid by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Australia.
“I understand there has been a case of hacking”, Parrikar told reporters.
“Marked “Restricted Scorpene India”, the DCNS documents detail the most sensitive combat capabilities of India’s new $US3 bn submarine fleet and would provide an intelligence bonanza if obtained by India’s strategic rivals, such as Pakistan or China”, the report said.
The leak seems to “represent a significant compromise”, said Uday Bhaskar, a retired Indian naval commodore and defense analyst.
A team of experts from the navy has been burning the proverbial midnight oil in examining the leaked documents since the news broke on Tuesday night, an informed source said, adding the documents, including one dated 2011, are old.
“It appears that the source of leak is from overseas and not in India”.
Questioning India’s defence preparedness following the leak of details related to the French-made Scorpene submarine, the Congress on Thursday asked the Centre to form an independent probe body, or let the Supreme Court investigate the matter. We are certain the data leak was not from our side.
The first of its class, deal of six Scorpene-class submarines are worth 3.5 Bn US dollars and had hardly begun its sea trials in the Mumbai.
Advertisement
The navy, nonetheless, held the leak is an issue of concern. The newspaper had initially put out some pages of the 22,000 leaked documents, whose authenticity was challenged by many.
