Exocet

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For other meanings, see Exocet (disambiguation).
Exocet

Type Medium-range anti-ship missile
Service history
In service 1979
Production history
Manufacturer MBDA's division Aérospatiale
Specifications
Weight 670 kg
Length 4.7 m
Diameter 34.8 cm
Warhead 165 kg
Engine solid propellant engine
Wingspan 1.1 m
Operational
range		 70-180 km
Flight altitude 2 m
Speed 315 m/s
Guidance
system		 Inertial and active radar
Launch
platform		 multi-platform:
  • MM38 surface-launched
  • AM39 air-launched
  • SM39 submarine-launched
  • MM40 surface-launched

The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, and airplanes. Several hundred were fired in combat during the 1980s.

Contents

[edit] Etymology

The name comes from a French word for flying fish (Exocoetidae). However the origin of the word is one of:

  • Greek εξώκητον = 'external (out of water) cetacean or large sea animal'. In Greek 'κήτος' is used for larger sea animals like whales, but in modern Greek can also be applied to flying fish. Not to be confused with 'κύτος' which means hull (of a ship).
  • Greek 'εξωκοιτος = "lying down outside", "sleeping under the stars", applied to the flying-fish because they sometimes landed in boats, from 'εξω = "outside" and κειμαι = "I lie down".

[edit] Description

The Exocet is built by MBDA, a European missile company. Development began in 1967 as a ship-launched missile named MM 38. The air-launched Exocet was developed in 1974 and entered service with the French Navy five years later.

The missile is designed to hit large warships. It is guided inertially in mid-flight, and turns on active radar late in its flight to find and hit its target. Its solid propellant engine gives the Exocet a maximum range of 70 km. The submarine-launched version places the missile and a Naval booster motor within a launch capsule.

The Exocet has been manufactured in a number of versions, including:

  • MM38 (surface-launched)
  • AM39 (air-launched)
  • SM39 (submarine-launched)
  • MM40 (surface-launched)

The newest MM40 version (MM40 block 3) has an improved range of 180 km through the use of a turbojet engine, and includes four air-intakes to provide continuous airflow to the engine during high-G manoeuvres.

The chief competitor to the Exocet is the U.S.-built Harpoon, the Chinese Yingji series, the Swedish built RBS15.

[edit] History

Exocet missile impact
Exocet missile impact
Exocet launch
Exocet launch

[edit] Falklands Conflict

In 1982, during the Falklands War, Exocets became famous worldwide when Argentine Navy Super Etendard warplanes used one to sink the British Royal Navy's destroyer HMS Sheffield on 4 May, and 2 to sink the 15,000 tonne merchant ship ship Atlantic Conveyor on 25 May. An MM38 Exocet transferred from the Argentine destroyer ARA Guerrico to a land-based truck [1] that damaged HMS Glamorgan on June 12.

Argentina claimed that an Exocet-armed Super Etendard attack on May 30 damaged HMS Invincible. This claim is widely regarded as entirely unfounded, not least due to the continued operation of undamaged Invincible in the campaign. It should be noted that during the conflict the Argentinian military Government claimed incorrectly several times to have damaged several ships (with multiple previous claims for having damaged or sunk the carriers Invincible and the Hermes, the two most important British warships) and shot down Sea Harriers, due to some combination of the natural confusion of battle and propaganda purposes.

The Exocet that struck Sheffield impacted on 2 deck, 8 feet (2.4 m) above the waterline, near to the forward engine room, cracking the hull open roughly 4 feet (1.2 m) by 10 feet (3 m). It appears that the warhead did not explode. Accounts suggest that the initial impact of the missile immediately destroyed the ship's onboard electricity generating systems and fractured the water main, preventing the anti-fire mechanisms from operating effectively, and thereby dooming the ship to be consumed by the raging fire. Although the loss of Sheffield was a major shock to the British, the missile used earned itself a curious kind of respect, and the word “Exocet” passed into British colloquial usage to denote, “a devastating attack.” It is still occasionally heard, and as of 2007, remains widely understood. The crew of Sheffield and members of the British Task Force were of the opinion that the missile had exploded, but the official report from the RN Board of Inquiry now available (2007) on the Internet states that from the evidence available the warhead did not explode. The damage caused was due to the large kinetic energy of the missile and the presence of unused missile fuel which ignited on impact.

The Exocet that struck Glamorgan failed to explode, but the unburnt rocket fuel caused a significant fire. It is likely[citation needed] that Glamorgan was saved from complete destruction by the prompt action of the officers and men at the helm. With less than a minute's warning that a missile was incoming, they ordered maximum revolutions and maximum wheel towards the missile. When the missile struck the ship was heeled far over to port and instead of striking the side the missile hit the coaming and was deflected upwards. The dent caused by the impact was clearly visible when Glamorgan was being refitted in late 1982.

In the years after the Falklands War it was revealed that the British government and intelligence agencies were extremely concerned by the perceived inadequacy of the British navy’s anti-missile defences against the Exocet and the missile’s potential to tip the naval war decisively in favour of the Argentine forces. In London, a nightmare scenario was being envisioned in which one or both of the UK force’s two aircraft carriers (HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes) would be destroyed or incapacitated by an Exocet attack. Under such circumstances, military analysts considered that the British would have had much more difficulty in mounting an attack to recapture the Falklands. To counter the threat posed by the Exocet, a major intelligence operation was initiated to prevent the Argentine Navy from acquiring more Exocets. The operation included British intelligence agents claiming to be arms dealers able to supply quantities of Exocets to Argentina, diverting Argentina from pursuing genuine sources which could only supply a few missiles. France denied deliveries of recently-purchased AM39 to Peru in the belief that they would be given to Argentina.

[edit] Middle East

USS Stark hit by two Exocets
USS Stark hit by two Exocets

Iraq fired an estimated 200 air-launched Exocets against Iranian shipping during the Iran-Iraq War with varying levels of success. Tankers and other civilian shipping were often hit, but a large percentage failed to explode.[citation needed] US and UK EOD teams recovered several warheads and even some complete missiles from target ships.[citation needed]

On May 17, 1987, the pilot of an Iraqi Mirage F-1 allegedly mistook the U.S. Navy Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate USS Stark for an Iranian tanker and fired two Exocets at the warship. Both hit, but only one exploded.[citation needed] The first penetrated the port-side hull; it failed to detonate, but spewed flaming rocket fuel in its path. The second entered at almost the same point, and left a 3-by-4-metre gash then exploded in crew quarters. Thirty-seven sailors were killed and twenty-one were injured. Stark was heavily damaged, but saved by the crew and sent back for repairs. The errant pilot was reportedly executed for his error, which of course made him unavailable for an inquiry into the attack.

[edit] Trivia

In the late 1970's a civilian in Falmouth, Cornwall, England inadvertently recreated part of the Exocet's navigation system in his "Lokata Watchman", a small-boat navigation system.[2]

[edit] Operators

MM38 Exocet missiles on board German Navy S74 Nerz, Type 143A Gepard class fast attack craft
MM38 Exocet missiles on board German Navy S74 Nerz, Type 143A Gepard class fast attack craft
AM39 under a Dassault Rafale
AM39 under a Dassault Rafale

[edit] Current operators

[edit] Former operators

[edit] References

  1. ^ (Spanish) An interview with ARA CL (R) Ing. Julio Pérez, chief designer of Exocet truck-based launcher
  2. ^ [http://www.dsearleuk.force9.co.uk/ David Searle Electronics

[edit] External links

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