German Defence Firm Linked to Scorpene Data Leak: French Media

A French newspaper said the leak was driven by competition between German firm TKMS and Scorpene maker DCNS.

Kalvari, a Scorpene-class submarine, ventures into the sea for the first time as sea trials begin off the Mumbai coast, 1 May 2016. (Photo: IANS)

French defence ministry officials probing the Scorpene submarine data leak to The Australian have allegedly traced the source of the leak to ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), a German defence firm, The Indian Express reports.

Quoting multiple sources, French newspaper Le Monde said the leak was driven by competition between TKMS and French firm DCNS for selling submarines to various countries.

Hervé Guillou , the CEO of DCNS, believes that India’s confidence has not been dented in the French company after the leak.

I went to the Indian authorities for reassurance. We formed a group working on the issue with them.

But the Indian defence ministry said that Manohar Parrikar had not met with Gillou or any other official affiliated with DCNS in the past few weeks.

The French investigation is gaining significance as the two German and French companies are now vying for the Project 75-I programme of the Indian Navy. The Ministry of Defence is supposed to identify a foreign company that will construct six submarines under the ‘Make in India’ initiative under Project 75-I.

The Navy’s submarine fleet is in a poor state, which makes Project 75-I of utmost importance for the ministry.

On 24 August, 22,400 documents were published online by The Australian. The papers related to the Scorpene submarine being built at Mazagon Docks in Mumbai. INS Kalvari, the first of these submarines, is out for trials and all six are to join the Navy by 2020.

(Source: The Indian Express)

Also read: Is India Ready for the After-Effects of the Scorpene Data Leak?

Scorpene Submarine Documents Leak not Worrisome: Parrikar