Scorpene submarine documents stolen, not leaked: French source

An Australian newspaper published on Wednesday documents about French Scorpene submarines being built in India.

File photo of Indian Navy's Scorpene submarine INS Kalvari being escorted by tugboats as it arrives at Mazagon Docks Ltd. (Reuters)

PARIS: Documents relating to Indian submarines were stolen from French naval contractor DCNS and not leaked, a French government source said on Thursday, adding that the information published so far showed only operational aspects of the submarines.

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India and France have opened investigations after The Australian newspaper published on Wednesday documents about its Scorpene submarines being built in India.

"It is not a leak, it is theft," the source said. "We have not found any DCNS negligence, but we have identified some dishonesty by an individual."

The source said the documents looked to have been stolen in 2011 by a former French employee that had been fired while providing training in India on the use of the submarines.

The documents were not classified and at this stage appeared to only focus on the operational elements of the submarines, the source said.