The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have been asked to investigate how classified information on the country’s 50 billion Australian dollar submarine tender emerged — the second such probe into leaks in the program, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. said Friday.

A report by the ABC this week revealed that the Japanese bid for the submarine had been “all but dismissed” during a meeting of top Australian Cabinet officials, leaving only the French and German bids remaining.

While an official announcement on the sub bid has yet to be made, a decision is likely to come by the end of the month.

… “There have certainly been indications in recent weeks that Japan has fallen behind in the sub deal,” said Sam Bateman, a former Australian naval commodore and adviser at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

While strategic factors may have been part of the process, Bateman added, “I believe the decision will be primarily based in technical assessments of what is the ‘best’ submarine for Australian requirements.”