Scorpene leak: DCNS seeks injunction to prevent further publication of data

Melbourne In a bid to prevent further publication of the information regarding the leaked documents pertaining to Indian Navys six Scorpene submarines French shipbuilder DCNS has threatened to move courtThe company DCNS which is at the centre of a global submarine data leak scandal wants to prevent the Aussie publication The Australian from releasing any more confidential data contained in 22400 secret documents because it may cause harm to its customer the Indian NavyLawyers for DCNS have told The Australian that the company will seek an injunction in the Supreme Court of New South Wales to prevent further publication of documents The move by DCNS mdash which has won a contract to design Australias new 50 billion submarine fleet mdash comes as a former commander of the US Pacific Fleet Submarine Force warned that the Scorpene leaks scandal would undermine confidence in the ability of French companies to protect classified information The Australian reported on SundayRear Admiral retired John Padgett who is also the president of the influential US Naval Submarine League has warned that ldquoaggressive actionrdquo needed to be taken to investigate the leak and that France should share the outcome with Australia The company is also seeking a court order to force The Australian to hand over the documents and remove them from its websiteldquoThe publication of this highly valuable document causes a direct harm to DCNS and its customer in terms of spread of sensitive and shyrestricted information image and reputation says an affidavit by DCNSs lawyer Justine Munsie The Australian redacted the most sensitive details from the documents before their publicshyationAdmiral Padgett said the most significant implication of the DCNS leak was that any potential adversary if armed with classified data could create and exploit the vulnerabilities it revealed ldquoIt is never good for an shyopponent to have your playbookrdquo he said ldquoAs a member of NATO the French government and French military demonstrate that they enforce effective security controls and have a solid reputashytion with their alliesldquoIt is not clear to me that the French militaryindustrial base meets those same standards and breaches such as the Scorpene data leak undermine confidence that sensitive or classified informshyation will remain securerdquo he added Admiral Padgett said the leak investigation had to determine exactly how the breach occurred and what ldquoaggressive actionrdquo would be taken to correct deficient security controlsHis comments came as a French public prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation into the data leak with DCNS filing a complaint for breach of trust ldquoWe filed a complaint against unknown persons for breach of trust with the Paris prosecutorrdquo said a DCNS spokesmanApart from the disclosures related to cylindrical and flank array sonar interception acoustic signature and levels of noise radiation the leaked documents on the Scopene submarine include details of the capabilities of the SM39 antiship missile expected to be used on the submarineMeanwhile the Indian Navy top officers have said that they do not expect the project to be delayed and that the first vessel INS Kalvari which is currently undergoing sea trials will be inducted by the yearendThe Indian Navy has maintained the leaked data will not compromise the boats stealth capabilities an officer told IANS that if needed India is capable of making suitable changes in the submarines keeping in mind the worstcase scenario