What the Scorpene leak reveals

AUSTRALIA

New US $ 38 billion, 12-sub fleet to replace its Collins-class fleet from the early 2030s. Scorpene’s Shortfin Barracuda, which will likely have an American stealth combat system, edged out German and Japanese rivals because it was the quietest, and considered best for intelligence gathering.

MALAYSIA

Ordered 2 DCNS-Navantia Scorpenes for US $ 1.2 billion in 2002; delivered in 2009 and 2010. In February 2016, France opened probe into allegations that Thales International, which has a stake in DCNS, had paid off Malaysian PM Najib Razak to win the contract. Persistent reports of the subs’ malfunctioning, including a refusal to dive, were formally denied by the Malaysian Navy in 2012.

CHILE

Ordered two Scorpenes to replace two Oberon Class submarines that were retired in 1998 and 2003; subs arrived in Chile in 2006.

BRAZIL

Ordered 4 Scorpene-based diesel-electric submarines in 2008; construction began in 2011; first sub expected to enter service in 2017/18.

Route of the breach

DCNS, The Australian reported, has “implied” leak may have occurred at India’s end. “…In India, where a DCNS design is built by a local company, DCNS is the provider and not the controller of technical data,” The Australian quoted DCNS as saying.

Watch video: Secret Data On India’s Scorpene Submarines Leaked

HOWEVER, the paper reported, the data was written in France in 2011, and likely removed the same year by a French ex-naval officer who was then a DCNS subcontractor. It is believed to have travelled to a Southeast Asian company, and to another in the region “before being sent on a data disk by regular mail to a company in Australia”, The Australian reported.

DATA includes other plans, such as on the sale of French frigates to Chile, and sale of Mistral-class vessels to Russia, which are unrelated to India. Presence of this information suggests the data was removed from DCNS in France, The Australian said.