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Australia won't dump French shipbuilder in wake of document leak: gov't

Xinhua, September 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

India's decision to cancel its option of purchasing three additional submarines from French shipbuilder DCNS will have no bearing on Australia's 40 billion U.S dollar order for 12 next-generation submarines, the nation's Defence Industry Minister said on Monday.

Christopher Pyne, the minister charged with overseeing the refresh of Australia's submarine fleet, said Australia won't be scared off by India's decision not to exercise its options with DCNS, in a 2 billion dollar blow to the French company.

Last month DCNS suffered a massive leak of more than 22,000 documents relating to its Scorpene-class submarines, which India among other nations had ordered. Australia has ordered 12 Barracuda-class subs from the shipbuilder, and Pyne said details of its subs were secure.

"The leak of those documents, they were not top secret documents which would obviously be very serious," Pyne told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday.

"The (Scorpene-class) submarine built by DCNS is their export model of submarine. It's the same model of submarine bought by several different countries around the world," he said.

"It bears no relation at all to the Barracuda submarine which is being built for Australia, which is a unique submarine."

Pyne said the sensitive details of Australia's submarines was secured in the same the navy's current Collins-class subs have been protected for "decades".

"It is a new design and a new build, and the security arrangements that we have will be the same as we've had for the Collins-class submarine which has served us well for decades," Pyne said on Monday.

"I have absolutely every confidence that they will stand the test of time in the future, so no, it has no bearing at all on our contract with DCNS."

"I am taking the steps necessary to satisfy myself as to the protections that we have in place and are now second to none."

The deal for the Barracuda-class submarines is worth up to 40 billion U.S dollars, with the first subs to come into service in approximately 2030. Endit