Web Desk, 24 August, 2016:
More than 22,000 pages of top secret data on the capabilities of six highly advanced submarines being built for the Indian Navy in Mumbai in collaboration with a French company have been leaked, raising alarm bells today in the security establishment.
The combat capability of the Scorpene submarines being built at Mazagon dock at a cost of USD 3.5 billion by French shipbuilder DCNS, went public when an Australian newspaper, The Australian, put the details on its website.
Reacting with alacrity to the development, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who learnt about the leak at midnight, ordered Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lamba to go into the ‘entire issue’. A report is also being sought from DCNS. “What I understand is there is a hacking. So we will find out all this,” Parrikar told reporters in Delhi.
The Defence Minister said he does not suspect the leak to be 100 per cent since a lot of final integration lies with India. He said a clear picture will emerge in a couple of days.
Navy sources said the leak of data “was a matter of serious concern” but added that the document was dated and the Indian submarine had undergone “many changes” from the initial design the details of which have been leaked.
The details leaked included what frequencies the submarines gather intelligence at, what levels of noise they make at various speeds and their diving depths, range and endurance – all sensitive information that is highly classified, The Australian said.
It said that “Marked ‘Restricted Scorpene India’, the DCNS documents detail the most sensitive combat capabilities of India’s submarine fleet and would provide an intelligence bonanza if obtained by India’s strategic rivals, such as Pakistan or China.”
The data tells the submarine crew where on the boat they can speak safely to avoid detection by the enemy. It also discloses magnetic, electromagnetic and infra-red data as well as the specifications of the submarine’s torpedo launch system and the combat system, the newspaper said.
The data, accessed by the paper, includes 4,457 pages on the submarine’s underwater sensors, 4,209 pages on its above-water sensors, 4,301 pages on its combat management system, 493 pages on its torpedo launch system and specifications, 6,841 pages on the sub’s communications system and 2,138 on its navigation systems.
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