Source of leak of sensitive Scorpene submarines data overseas, says Indian Navy

Following the Australian media reports about the leak of sensitive data concerning India's Scorpene Submarines, the Indian Navy on Wednesday said the source of the leak appears to be from overseas and not in India.

Issuing a statement, the navy said, "The available information is being examined at Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Navy) and an analysis is being carried out by the concerned specialists."

"It appears that the source of leak is from overseas and not in India," it added.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had earlier said that he has asked Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba to analyse the extent of the leak and find out whether it is related to India or not.

Parrikar further asserted that the leak is not 100 percent.

"I have asked the naval chief to conduct a full analysis of the incident as to what is the leak and what has been leaked about us. The first step is to identify, the second step is to identify the extent of the unwarranted, but it is not all 100 percent because we do have our final integration," Parrikar said.

"It came to my knowledge at around 12 last night, what I understand is that there is a hacking. So, we will find out all these aspects," he added.

Parrikar further said that in the next couple of days, they will come out with more information.

On Tuesday, a report in Australian media revealed that sensitive information related to India's Scorpene submarines has been leaked, with French shipbuilder DCNS, which designed the submarine, facing a leak of documents spreading over 22,000 pages.

According to The Australian, the leak details the entire secret combat capability of the six Scorpene-class submarines that French shipbuilder DCNS has designed for the Indian Navy.

As per reports, the leak includes details of the submarine's underwater sensors, above-water sensors, combat management system, torpedo launch system and specifications, communications system and navigation systems.