Scorpene leak: French naval contractor DCNS files complaint

DCNS said that the leak bore the hallmarks of 'economic warfare' carried out by frustrated competitors

French naval contractor DCNS has filed a complaint for breach of trust after a massive leak of documents concerning six Scorpene submarines it is building for India, a spokesman for the shipbuilder said on Friday.

DCNS was left reeling after details from more than 22,000 pages of documents relating to submarines it is building for India were published in The Australian newspaper this week, sparking concerns about the company's ability to protect sensitive data.

"We filed a complaint against unknown persons for breach of trust with the Paris prosecutor on Thursday afternoon," the DCNS spokesman said.

A French government source said on Thursday that DCNS had apparently been robbed and it was not a leak, adding it was unlikely that classified data was stolen.

The Australian government said on Friday it had asked DCNS to take new security measures in Australia, where the company is locked in exclusive negotiations to build a new fleet of submarines for 50 billion Australian dollars ($38 billion).

DCNS said earlier this week that the leak, which covered details of the Scorpene-class model and not the vessel currently being designed for the Australian fleet, bore the hallmarks of "economic warfare" carried out by frustrated competitors.