New Delhi: A new set of leaked documents on India’s Scorpene submarines was published by Australian newspaper “The Australian” on Thursday revealing functional description, including the cylindrical and flank array, sonar interception and a number of other details on the boat.
The document, with “Restricted Scorpene India” written on it, has a System Technical Manual and an Operating Instruction Manual that have crucial details of the combat management system. While the vital parameters and exact details have been redacted or blacked out, the original documents contain all data. These details may be put together and make detecting the submarine easier. The document even gives out the frequency band of the Sonar intercept receiver, distributed array, active array.
Indian Navy has so far maintained that the details would not reveal the final submarine’s signature, as the specifications in the document are generic and each boat has a unique signature that is known only when it is ready and in the waters. The total leaked documents run over 22,000 pages.
The first set of documents uploaded by “The Australian”, included technical manuals of the boat, as also details like its acoustic signature and levels of noise radiation. Tracking a submarine involves sophisticated sonar equipment that can detect, classify, locate and track a vessel based on echoes from its hull and the noise it generates. Hull reflection, radio and radar signals and water pressure can also give away a submarine’s location. To this extent, the Scorpene’s stealth characteristic is its biggest strength. This has been achieved by modifying its hull and reducing its noise footprint.
Though the Navy has not yet officially reacted to the release of new documents, sources maintained that it does not compromise national security. Earlier in the day, even as India requested France to initiate a probe into the Scorpene data leak, an unnamed French government official was quoted by a news agency saying that the data was stolen, and not leaked. “It is not a leak, it is theft. We have not found any DCNS negligence, but we have identified some dishonesty by an individual,” he was quoted as saying.
India has also initiated a probe by a high-level committee constituted by the defence ministry and the Navy to assess the impact of the leak and suggest “necessary steps to mitigate any probable security compromise”.
On Wednesday, India was rocked by one of its biggest defence scandals when The Australian newspaper put out 22,484 pages of sensitive data on Scorpene submarines being built for India. The data comprised highly sensitive combat and stealth capabilities, including the actual frequencies at which they gather intelligence, their range, endurance, diving depths, the noise they radiate at different speeds as well as their magnetic and infrared signatures, safety parameter zones, array performance etc, substantially reducing the fighting capability of the under-construction submarine fleet.
