NEW DELHI: Some unidentified persons broke into the Indian Rafale project management team’s office in the suburbs of Paris in France on Sunday night, in what could be a possible espionage attempt to steal data related to the fighters being acquired by the IAF.Defence ministry sources said though no hard disks or documents were apparently reported stolen from the IAF project team’s office in a building complex in the Saint-Cloud suburb of Paris, French Police authorities are investigating the matter further.“The motive of the break-in is not yet clear because no valuables or money are kept in the office complex,” said a source. But the data on the technical specifications of the 13 India-Specific Enhancements (ISEs) or upgrades on the Rafale fighters, which are also capable of delivering nuclear weapons, is considered highly sensitive and confidential.These ISEs, which have cost India around Euro 1.3 billion for their “non-recurring” design and development cost, range from radar enhancements, Israeli helmet-mounted displays and low-band jammers to towed decoy systems, and the engine capability for "cold start" from high-altitude regions.With the ISEs being aimed at achieving tactical superiority in the region, the IAF says the Rafale will prove to be a “gamechanger” in air combat capabilities because it will be able to outgun any combat jet of China or Pakistan.The IAF project team, headed by a Group Captain, is stationed in France to oversee the production timelines of the 36 Rafale jets being acquired under the overall Euro 7.8 billion (Rs 59,000 crore) contract inked in September 2016 as well as the training of the initial lot of pilots and technicians. “The IAF has briefed the MoD about the break-in,” said the source.With India having already paid half the total amount of the contract to France, the two Rafale squadrons (18 jets each) are to be based at Ambala (Haryana) and Hasimara (West Bengal) to cater for Pakistan and China, respectively, after they are delivered in the November 2019-April 2022 timeframe.The break-in incident comes soon after the end of the long and bitter political campaign for the general elections in India, which saw the Congress attack the BJP-led NDA government on the ground that the Rafale deal was vastly overpriced, violated the Defence Procurement Procedure, had no transfer of technology, and cold-shouldered Hindustan Aeronautics to favour the Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Defence as the main “offsets partner” of fighter-manufacturer Dassault Aviation .The NDA government, however, maintains it secured a “better deal” in terms of price, capability, equipment, delivery and maintenance than the one “notionally being negotiated” by the previous UPA regime for 126 Rafale jets. Under this scrapped MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project, the first 18 fighters were to come in “a flyaway condition”, with the rest being licensed produced by HAL.