Leak exposes Scorpene strength

​New Delhi: From physical description of the components to operating instruction manuals to technical manuals all details of the top secret Indian weapon, Scorpene, are out in the open to the glee of the country's rivals, especially Pakistan and China.

In 11 pages there are details of the functional status of the optronic mast equipment, attack periscope equipment and sensors zone details.

The technical manuals state where is the sound emanating from it at all, spaces where intelligible speech is necessary such as the Torpedo room, high-noise level areas where intelligible speech communication is required... anything and everything that our enemies want to know about is in the open now going by the report published in “The Australian” on Wednesday.

This Scorpene deal is bound to be a raging controversy for days and months in this country obsessed with politics. Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar has already claimed that the leak was from outside and that the Ministry and Navy were studying the details.

Mirage jets in the 1960s', ARH and MRH helicopters in the early 2000s and now the Scorpene submarines....the French cannot keep their secrets.

That is a very costly lesson that the Indians have learnt now with the leak of the sensitive details regarding the submarine supposed to provide stealth to our Navy attack power and that decisive edge over our neighbours.

The leak has not taken place in India, it is said and it is also not due to our intelligence agencies that we discovered it. It is more due to concerns of Australia which has landed the same company - DCNS (the French Shipbuilder) - with a $50 billion order that the leak is out. The company that is delivering us Scorpene is also delivering Australia's 12 Shortfin Barracuda.

The Australians are shocked that the Indian deal is out in the public domain with every bit of the most sought after information in it. The leak runs to 22,400 pages and has been seen by “The Australian” details the ­entire secret combat capability of the six Scorpene-class submarines that French shipbuilder DCNS has designed for the Indian Navy, it was reported.

It has put out the same in its pages on Wednesday and the contents are quite shocking. Apart from the details mentioned in the beginning, it contains 19 PDF files along with half a dozen file folders that reveal what has all gone into the making of the submarine.

It should be known that Scorpene is also used by the navies of Malaysia, Chile and in a couple of years it would be the prime combat instrument of Brazil too. Of course, it could be a different variant, that is all.

So it will not be just India but all these countries that are going to be alarmed as fears run high that Pakistan and China would be the first two countries to secure the sensitive data. This is not just an Indian fear but so does all these countries which have contracted the French company.

It is reported that marked “Restricted Scorpene India”, the DCNS documents detail the most sensitive combat capabilities of India’s new $US3 bn submarine fleet and would provide an ­intelligence bonanza if obtained by India’s strategic rivals, reported ‘The Australian’ on Wednesday.

The leak is expected to spark concerns, in India apart, in Australia and especially in the US where senior navy officials have privately expressed fears about the security of top-secret data entrusted to France.

Scorpene could be used for stealth operations as never before in the past because of its 'silent capacity' in intelligence gathering.

The fact that the combat and performance capabilities of Scorpene are now out in the open means that that stealth advantage is completely compromised.

The leaked DCNS data details the secret stealth capabilities of the six new Indian submarines, including what frequencies they 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 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.

It also gives away all details of the speed and stipulations needed for the use of periscope, the noise specifications of the propeller and the radiated noise levels that occur when the submarine surfaces from the water.

‘The Australian’ perused 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.

‘The Australian’ perused 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.