The latest leak of the Scorpene submarine secrets is not the first incident of its kind to hit Mumbai’s Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL).
The designs of two submarines, Shalki (SSK-1500) and Shankul (SSK-1500), both based on a German design, were leaked between 1992 and 1994, and made available to a South African newspaper. Officials who had worked closely with the MDL submarine department told The Hindu that it was alleged that the German supplier of the submarines, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), was responsible for the leak.
Shalki and Shankul were names of a particular variety of fish found in the Andaman Island. And these two, named after them, were part of a four-vessel deal between India and Germany. As negotiations began in 1987 to place orders for more of these submarines, allegations emerged of kickbacks in the original deal. Criminal investigations were launched and New Delhi blacklisted HDW.
Several documents of the highly advanced designs of the non-nuclear submarines were leaked even as the 1,450-ton Shishumar-class SSKs remained parked in yard number 801 and 802 of the MDL. A high-level probe was launched by the then CMD of MDL, Rear Admiral M.M. Puri, and while it continued during the tenure of his successor Rear Admiral D.V. Taneja, the investigation did not yield any results on where and how the leak was caused, senior officials told The Hindu .
“Coming in the backdrop of the Bofors scandal, those were tough and scary times for those working in and around the submarine department. Orders were issued to block entry to the Electrical and Weapon department; and submarine design sections were put on a freeze. Even to get a photocopy of a single sheet of document was nothing less than a nightmare for us,” said a senior official.
In wake of the leak, the MDL put in place a data-storing plant, where vital designs and data are stored in magnet tapes of the Alpha make, and monitored centrally through an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. The ERP software — a suite of integrated applications — allows the MDL information technology (IT) cell to collect, store, manage, and interpret data collected from purchase, manufacturing and other product-related activities. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel provide round-the-clock security to both the submarine design and the IT cell.
“Over the years, the yard has regularly upgraded its IT infrastructure to reach the current level where the entire gamut of design, planning, production and finance aspects are managed through an ERP system,” said an official.
Senior officials said while the 3,000 employees in the submarine department still spar over ideological differences — some favouring the Russians and other Germans — it was unlikely that a leak was caused from within. “We had our ideological differences in the department [some were right leaning, others left]. But we are all pained to hear that despite so much security in place, these documents [then and now again] have got leaked. The French are providing limited access of the Scorpene technology to Pakistan as well, and therefore the issue has gained more seriousness,” said another MDL official.
The Scorpene class submarines were ordered by the Indian Navy at a cost of Rs. 12,022 crore, and built in collaboration with DCNS France. The MDL has upgraded its submarine-building facilities to match the ‘stringent specifications’ of the boats ordered by Navy to induct advanced ‘submarine killers’ into their fleet, officials said.
Construction of the first of the six submarines had commenced on December 15, 2006 — the order was placed in 2005 — to be inducted from 2012 to 2017. Meanwhile, the German defence contractor ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) has already signed a $ 38.4 million contract with the Navy for the modernisation of two of four Shishumar-class submarines. An MDL spokesperson said he could not comment on the leaks then and now, but ruled out the possibility of a leak from their end. “We have a foolproof system of cyber security and the processes are diligently followed.”
