In France, the military “leaked” data about nuclear submarines in a fitness app, — Le Monde

Four submarines with nuclear ballistic missiles are located at the secret base of Ile-Long. The military accidentally declassified their duty schedules, sharing data about their workouts in the app.

French nuclear submarine servicemen accidentally leaked data on submarine patrols via the fitness app Strava, which tracks athletic achievements. Their profiles in the app were public, so confidential information about the operation of the secret Ile-Long military base in the harbor of Brest and the submarine duty schedule became publicly available, writes French newspaper LeMonde.

French naval servicemen recorded training data in the app, which allowed them to calculate the submarine duty schedules. An investigation by French journalists showed that the servicemen signed with their real names and left their profiles open. In doing so, they inadvertently revealed information about the pace of patrols by nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles.

The authors of the article note that the French naval base at Ile-Long is top secret. It is home to nuclear deterrence forces: four nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles, each of which can carry sixteen missiles with nuclear weapons, about a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. The submarines, which the French call “black boats”, have been patrolling the ocean since 1972. At least one of them is always on duty to launch a missile in case of such an order from the president.

The base is constantly guarded by land and sea patrols, drones and dogs. To enter the facility, more than 2,000 employees must provide their credentials and undergo a facial recognition scan. Mobile phones and other electronic devices are prohibited on most of the base and must be left in lockers at checkpoints.