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| A DCNS Scorpene class attack submarine (File Photo) |
By: Pierre Tran
PARIS – France will conduct an inquiry into a leak to Australian newspapers of “sensitive” technical information on the Scorpene attack submarine being built for India, an unauthorized release which risks upsetting prospective client Canberra, naval shipbuilder DCNS said Aug. 23.
DCNS was responding to The Australian newspaper, which has reported on a leak of 22,400 pages of company data on the six Scorpene boats under construction for the Indian Navy.
“DCNS has been made aware of articles published in the Australian press related to the leakage of sensitive data about (the) Indian Scorpene,” the company told Defense News.
“This serious matter is thoroughly investigated by the ... French national authorities for defense security,” DCNS said. “This investigation will determine the exact nature of the leaked documents, the potential damages to DCNS customers as well as the responsibilities for this leakage,” the company said.
An unauthorized disclosure of DCNS documents, stamped “Restricted Scorpene India” and dated 2011, comes at a delicate time for the company, which is in exclusive talks with Australia for a contract to design and build the Shortfin Barracuda A1 diesel-electric submarine.
Australia picked DCNS after a competitive evaluation which attracted competing bids from Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and a Japanese team comprising Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, backed by Tokyo.
The leak of those sensitive documents could lead Australia and the US to question French reliability on maintaining security on “top-secret data entrusted to France,” The Australian reported.
Read the full story at DefenseNews