Six Scorpenes designed by French shipmaker DCNS are being built in Mumbai.
Highlights
- Scorpene submarines being built in Mumbai, designed by French firm
- 22,500 documents of classified info leaked
- Latest data leak shows sonar system, components compromised
New Delhi:
New documents released today evidence that ultra-secret details of India's Scorpene submarines are out in the open.
Here are the top 10 developments in this big story:
The sonar system, including the frequencies used by its key components, the Flank Array, the Sonar Intercept Receiver, the Distributed Array and the Active Array have been compromised. All these systems work together to allow the submarine to detect enemy warships and submarines and attack them using torpedoes.
The latest tranche of data appears to contradict the Ministry of Defence statement earlier today that there was no immediate security risk from the leak of secret documents detailing the capabilities of the Scorpene.
The Australian newspaper, which reported on the leak two days ago, posted new details this evening on its website but with sensitive info redacted.
So though the documents prove that the classified information had been compromised, it is not in the public domain.
The documents posted earlier have been examined and do not pose any security compromise as the vital parameters have been blacked out," the defence ministry said in a statement earlier. However, it is The Australian which has redacted sensitive data. It is possible that these documents are also available to others.
Six Scorpenes designed by French shipmaker DCNS are being built in Mumbai. The first is expected to join service before the end of this year.
On Tuesday night, the Australian said it had 22,000 pages of details that exposed the combat capability of the submarines, being built at a cost of $3.5 billion.
The documents were stolen from DCNS and not leaked, an unnamed French government source said to news agency Reuters, adding that the information published so far shows only operational aspects of the submarines.
The source said the documents appeared to have been stolen in 2011 by a former French employee that had been fired while providing training in India on the use of the submarines.
India and France have opened investigations with Delhi asking for a detailed report.
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