Irrespective of the fact who is behind the leak operation, one thing is absolutely certain that the scandal has exposed the vulnerability of Scorpene. Though the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has been putting a brave face and trying to play down the damage caused to the Indian defence due to the Scorpene leak saying that it is a 'not big worry', the fact remains he is finding it a tough to emphatically assert that the project has not been compromised after leak of Scorpene’s characteristics and technical details, including battle details.

His assertion that the leaked documents put on the web of ‘The Australian' newspaper does not include any of the weaponry systems of the Scorpene as has been reported in the media, is indeed confusing and contrary to media expose. To make his claim more tenable, Parrikar even quoted Navy saying that most of the leaked documents are not of concern; 'We are waiting for the report. Basically, what is on the website is not of big concern. We are going by assumption of the worst case scenario. I think there is not big worry because we will be able out put things in right perspective'.

The Australian newspaper in its report disclosed that the disc delivered to it by some unknown person contained entire confidential documents about the secret combat capability of India’s Scorpene submarine fleet. The newspaper expressed fear that if a foreign spy service has acquired the data , then in that case the Scorpene submarines could be dead in the water before they sail.

Surprisingly Indian authorities were not aware of the leak till the newspaper contacted DCNS Australia to comment on the data file marked “Restricted Scorpene India”, which laid bare almost every secret capability of India’s new submarines. These included the contracted parameters and capabilities of the submarine’s stealth features, its noise signatures at different speeds, its range, endurance, diving depths, magnetic and infra-red data. In other words, the full suite of submarine capability spread over 22,400 documents that any navy would consider to be classified and highly sensitive.

The Scorpenes were a badly needed replacement for India’s ageing fleet of submarines that were almost three decades old and often confined to port with technical problems. The DCNS Scorpene was ordered in 2005 to spearhead India’s submarine fleet because, it boasted, “Stealth features give it invulnerability, unmatched by many submarines.” However if the experts are to be believed, Scorpene were not fully equipped to serve the Indian interest. Its characteristics appeared to be a pretty far cry from what it supposed to be according to the initial request. Now it is clear that the submarines cannot be armed with cutting edge weapons to meet their quite a heavy price.

Even experts acknowledge that torpedoes are much less efficient in comparison to missiles. However it was revealed that it would take significant change in construction to arm Scorpenes with torpedoes. And there is no chance that they can be fitted with missiles in the foreseeable future. Such a scenario leaves the Indian Navy in a weak position vis-à-vis Chinese and even Pakistani submarines. Wasting money for these additional platforms will prevent India from purchasing other submarines that can be armed with our own best-in-class Brahmos supersonic missiles and enhancing our deterrence capabilities along with the much spoken about Make in India programme.

The developments make it explicit that under pressure to provide a quick answer, Parrikar announced an investigation, but so far no input has been provided about the character and quantity of the leak and the damage caused. Indian and international experts were divided on how damaging the leak of sensitive data on the Scorpene submarine could prove to be. Surprisingly within 24 hours of launching an investigation, India has concluded that highly classified details of the Scorpene submarines being built in Mumbai were not leaked from India.

Much against Parrikar’s stand a French government official held: 'The leaked DCNS data details the secret stealth capabilities of the 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.'

This is a serious breach and can do real long term damage to Indian strategic profile as the Scorpene was supposed to be the main submarine of the Indian fleet. The Scorpene is part of the ambitious Project 75 of Indian Navy's submarine programme, undertaken with in collaboration with French firm DCNS. All the six submarines under this projects will be indigenously built at Mumbai's Mazagaon Dockyard Ltd.

The project to build the Scorpene submarines was awarded to DCNS in October 2005 and ironically has taken longer than the stipulated time. The project has also over-shot the budget by nearly Rs 5,000 crore and is expected to cost about Rs 23,562 crore. The Scorpene deal has been under a cloud of controversy with the government conducting an inquiry into financial irregularities committed by a former director in-charge.

The Australian said that it had seen 'details of the capabilities of the SM39 anti-ship missile expected to be used on the Scorpene. The data includes the number of targets the missile is capable of processing, its launch details and how many targets could be downloaded before firing.'' First of the Scorpene class submarines being built in India – Kalvari – went for sea trials in May, 2016 and is expected to be inducted in the Indian Navy soon. The six submarines, once inducted, would form the core of the Navy’s submarine arm for the next two decades.

Little doubt leak of the detailed plans for the stealth submarines is a matter of serious concern. Submarines constitute one of the most important assets in a country’s arsenal. A submarine is effective as long as it is secretive. If enemy knows its secrets, then it becomes good for nothing. That is why the maxim goes, “loose lips sink ships.” The Scorpene-leakage is as much a big news as the leaks of the secret nuclear weapon design of Russia in 2015 and the theft of the military designs of more than two dozen advanced weapon systems of the United States in 2014. (IPA Service)