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The Exocet missile is built by European company MBDA's division Aérospatiale (who were also the French arm of the Anglo-French team that built the Concorde.) It is one of the most successful Surface to Surface / Air to Surface missiles currently in service. Development began in 1967, as a ship launched missile named MM 38. The air launched Exocet was developed in 1974 and entering service with the French Navy in 1979.
The missile was designed to engage large warships. It is 4.7 m in length, and has a wingspan of 1.1 m, a mass of 670 kg, and a 165 kg warhead. Guidance in the mid-flight phase is inertial, followed by active radarThis article is about the device. For the fictional character in M A S H see Corporal Walter (Radar) O'Reilly. antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. Radar is an acronym for ra dio d etec seeking to acquire its target. The solid propellant engine gives the Exocet a maximum range of 65 km. The submarine-launched version places the missile and a Narval booster motor within a launch capsuleA launch capsule is used to carry a submarine-launched missile from the attacking submarine through the distance of water up to the ocean surface, immediately after which the capsule is jettisoned, as the missile continues its journey propelled by the boo.
The Exocet has been manufactured in a number of versions, including:
The chief competitor to the Exocet is the American AGM-84 HarpoonThe AGM-84 Harpoon is a US all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system. Harpoon uses active radar guidance and low-level, sea-skimming cruise trajectory to improve survivability and effectiveness. The missile is capable of being launched from.
In 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du, during the Falklands war, air-launched Exocets were used successfully by ArgentinianArgentina is a Spanish-speaking country in southern South America, situated between the Andes in the west and the southern Atlantic Ocean in the east. It is bordered by Paraguay and Bolivia in the north, Brazil and Uruguay in the northeast and Chile in th forces against the BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly destroyer HMS Sheffield ( 4th May) and support ship Atlantic Conveyor ( 25th May); both sank. A surface-launched Exocet damaged HMS Glamorgan. The Exocet that struck the Sheffield failed to explode but the impact of the missile travelling at 315 m/s and laden with unburnt rocket fuel was enough to set the ship ablaze.
Although the loss of the Sheffield was a blow to British self-esteem, the missile used earned itself a curious kind of respect, and the word "an Exocet" passed into British colloquial use to mean "a devastating attack". It is still occasionally heard, and would be widely understood, today.
Iraq successfully used the air-launched version against Iranian shipping during the Iran-Iraq War and later against the US Navy Guided missile frigate USS Stark (FFG-31) (an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate). The Stark was heavily damaged but saved by the crew and sent back for repairs.