Scorpene leak: Australian daily uploads fresh batch of documents

Australia’s The Australian newspaper, late on Thursday, uploaded a fresh batch of leaked documents relating to information about operating instructions of underwater warfare system of the six Scorpene submarines which are being built in India by French firm DCNS.

The new set of documents, with Indian Navy insignia on it and marked “Restricted Scorpene India”, give details about the sonar system of the submarines which is used to gather intelligence underwater. They contain a wide range of technical specifications of the sonars and at what degree and frequency it will function. The documents also detail the “Operating Instruction Manual”, which talks about how to select a target for weapon firing, weapon configuration selection, among others.

Though the Navy has not yet officially reacted to the release of new documents, sources maintained that it does not compromise national security.

Earlier in the day, even as India requested France to initiate a probe into the Scorpene data leak, an unnamed French government official was quoted by a news agency saying that the data was stolen, and not leaked. “It is not a leak, it is theft. We have not found any DCNS negligence, but we have identified some dishonesty by an individual,” he was quoted as saying.

The French official said that the documents seemed to have been stolen in 2011 by a former French employee who was fired while providing training in India on the use of the submarines. DCNS is the French company that is building the six Scorpene submarines at Mumbai’s Mazagaon Docks. DCNS, a naval defence and energy major, is 64 per cent state-owned.

India has also initiated a probe by a high-level committee constituted by the defence ministry and the Navy to assess the impact of the leak and suggest “necessary steps to mitigate any probable security compromise”.

On Wednesday, India was rocked by one of its biggest defence scandals when The Australian newspaper put out 22,484 pages of sensitive data on Scorpene submarines being built for India. The data comprised highly sensitive combat and stealth capabilities, including the actual frequencies at which they gather intelligence, their range, endurance, diving depths, the noise they radiate at different speeds as well as their magnetic and infrared signatures, safety parameter zones, array performance etc, substantially reducing the fighting capability of the under-construction submarine fleet.

On Thursday, the Indian Navy came out with a statement saying: “The documents that have been posted on the website by an Australian news agency have been examined and do not pose any security compromise as the vital parameters have been blacked out.”

The discomfiting statement had several inaccuracies. The website belongs to The Australian, a newspaper and not a news agency, and also the “vital parameters” have been blacked out by the newspaper itself. Cameron Stewart, the journalist who broke the data leak story, explained why in his tweet: “Because we didn’t want to be accused of publishing classified data, we blacked out parts of those docs we posted.” That is to say that the individuals, states or corporate entities, whoever has the document are in possession of the “vital parameters” as well.

Adm. Arun Prakash (Retd), during whose tenure as Navy Chief and chairman of the chiefs of staff committee the Scorpene submarine deal had been signed on October 6, 2005, is convinced that the `23,500-crore six-submarine project, also called P75, should not suffer any derailment.

“We have been on that road before. In the late 1980s we took up building the HDW submarines which was scrapped because of lots of allegations. So for the next 30 years, we did not try building another one, nor did we learn to do so... that is why we go to foreign countries,” he told this newspaper.

He suggested: “The technical elements that have been leaked can be changed. Certain equipment can be changed. Frequencies can be changed. There is a lot that can be done. Moreover, a lot may already have been changed as the documents are from 2011.”

“The cost of retrofitting, refitting, alterations and modifications, etc should be on the company (DCNS). The very fact that this information has leaked out from the company is a very serious matter, (and it) should be penalised. It means such a reputed company has not been able to protect its customer interest and confidentiality.”

“But such information does not remain a secret forever. When a submarine moves out there are other navies that are waiting to record the signatures and frequencies. Aircraft, trawlers etc are also utilised for this purpose. Every navy across the world does it to a greater or lesser extent. We do it too.”