Exocet

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In older English literature there are some uses of "exocet" to mean "flying fish".
There is also a typeface known as Exocet.
Exocet
Image:Fr exocet.jpg
Basic data
Function Medium-range anti-ship missile
Manufacturer MBDA's division Aérospatiale
Entered service 1979
General characteristics
Engine solid propellant engine
Launch mass 670 kg
Length 4.7 m
Diameter 34.8 cm
Wingspan1.1 m
Speed 315 m/s
Range 70-180 km
Flying altitude2 m
Warhead165 kg
GuidanceInertial and active radar
Launch platformmulti-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.

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

[edit] History

Image:Exocet imapct.jpg
Exocet missile impact
Image:Exocet-mil.jpg
Exocet launch

[edit] Falklands Conflict

In 1982, during the Falklands War, Exocets became famous worldwide when Argentine Navy Super Etendard warplanes used them to destroy Royal Navy's HMS Sheffield on 4 May and 2 of them sunk the support ship Atlantic Conveyor on 25 May. As well, an Argentine-converted land-based truck fired an MM38 Exocet (previously dismounted from the Argentine destroyer ARA Guerrico [1]) that damaged HMS Glamorgan on June 12.

Argentina claims 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 several times to have damaged several ships (with multiple previous claims for having damaged and/or sunk both the Invincible and the Hermes, the two most important British warships) and shot down Sea Harriers, partially due to the natural confusion of battle and partially for propaganda purposes. Similarly, the British claimed to have destroyed more Argentine aircraft than they actually did for the same reasons.[2]

The Exocet that struck Sheffield impacted on Deck 2, 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). There remains uncertainty as to whether or not the warhead exploded. 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. There has been speculation that the Exocet that struck Sheffield did not explode, however the crew of Sheffield and members of the British Task Force strongly disagree with this. The official report from The RN Board of Inquiry now available (2007) on the Internet specifically indicates that from the evidence available the missile warhead did indeed fail to explode. This would suggest that the damage caused was as a result of the significant kinetic energy of the missile and the presence of unused missile fuel which caught fire 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. In the short warning period (less than 1 minute) that a missile was incoming, they ordered maximum revolutions and maximum wheel towards the missile. As a result 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 serious difficulty in further prosecuting an attempt to recapture the Falklands from the Argentine forces. To counter the threat posed by the Exocet, a major intelligence operation was initiated to prevent the Argentine Navy acquiring more of the missiles and British intelligence (believed to have been assisted by American intelligence)[citation needed] launched a global operation to disrupt Argentine attempts to procure new Exocets for the campaign. The operation included the seeding of intelligence agents whose task was to make contact with the Argentine military and falsely purport to be able to provide them with Exocets. Also, France denied deliveries of recently-purchased AM39 to Peru in the belief that they would be given to Argentina.

[edit] Middle East

Image:USS Stark.jpg
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 had the dual effect of rendering him unavailable for an inquiry into the attack.

[edit] Miscellaneous: the Lokata Watchman

In the late 1970's a civilian in Falmouth, Cornwall, England accidentally recreated part of the Exocet's navigation system in one of his inventions, the "Lokata Watchman", a small boat type navigation system.[3][4][5]

[edit] Operators

Image:ExocetNerz.jpg
MM38 Exocet missiles on board German Navy S74 Nerz, Type 143A Gepard class fast attack craft
Image:Exocet AM39 P1220892.jpg
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. ^ Argentine Airpower in the Falklands War
  3. ^ http://www.dsearleuk.force9.co.uk/
  4. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=IKgoAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22lokata%22+radar&q=%22lokata%22+radar+exocet&pgis=1#search
  5. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=IKgoAAAAMAAJ&q=%22lokata%22+radar&dq=%22lokata%22+radar&pgis=1

[edit] External links

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