Details about submarines from French company are released in data breach

Unknowns have stolen 22,400 pages of details about submarines from the French company DCNS. It concerns details about six submarines that the company is building for the Indian army. India has launched an investigation, as have the French authorities.

The DCNS Indian submarines are models of the so-called Scorpène class, Reuters writes. These are also used by Malaysia and Chile. According to a source from The Australian newspaper, the documents contain details about the combat systems, noise production and the speed of the submarines, among other things.

A first submarine is currently being tested and a second is in production at the port of Mumbai, The Financial Times reports. The contract is valued at $3 billion. The Indian Defense Minister assumes that it is a hack and that the leak did not originate in India. According to The Australian, the original data breach took place in 2011.

DCNS has also signed a contract with Australia to build a new generation of submarines. However, the fifty billion Australian dollar project would not have been affected by the data breach. DCNS cannot yet confirm the authenticity of the documents, but assumes that the action is part of an “economic war” that would be waged by competitors against the company.

Scorpène submarine of the Malaysian army. Photo: Mak Hon Keong via Creative Commons