Exocet
From Free net encyclopedia
- In older English literature there are some uses of "exocet" to mean "flying fish".
- There is also a typeface known as Exocet.
The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile made in various versions capable of being launched from surface ships and boats, submarines, and airplanes. It has been extensively used in combat from the 1980s onwards. The name comes from a French word for flying fish.
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Description
The Exocet missile is built by European company MBDA. 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. Guidance in the mid-flight phase is inertial, followed by active radar seeking to acquire its target. The 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 newer MM40 version (MM40 block 3) has an improved range of 180 km, through the use of a turboreactor.
The chief competitor to the Exocet is the U.S.-built AGM-84 Harpoon.
History
Image:Exocet imapct.jpg Image:Exocet-mil.jpg In 1982, during the Falklands/Malvinas War, Exocets became famous worldwide when they were used with devastating effect by the Argentinian Navy against the British Royal Navy, accounting for the sinking of the destroyer HMS Sheffield (4 May) and the support ship Atlantic Conveyor (25 May), as well as damaging the HMS Glamorgan (the missile that hit the Glamorgan was a surface-launched Exocet).
Argentine Navy Super Etendards attacked the British task force on May 4th (mortally wounding HMS Sheffield), May 25th (sinking Atlantic Conveyor) and May 30th (attacking HMS Invincible ). In the last of these attacks, Argentine pilots claim that an Exocet hit and damaged the Invincible, although the British deny it.
The last use of an Exocet during the war was on June 12 when Argentine navy technicians fired a previously dismounted MM38 Exocet from an Argentine corvette and struck the 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. Accounts suggest that the initial impact of the missile immediately destroyed the ship's onboard electricity generating systems and prevented the anti-fire mechanisms from operating effectively, dooming the ship to be consumed by the raging fire. 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 "Exocet" passed into British colloquial usage to denote, "a devastating attack". It is still occasionally heard, and as of 2004, remains widely understood.
The Exocet that struck the Glamorgan also failed to explode, but again the unburnt rocket fuel caused a significant fire. It is likely 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 in refit 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 decidedly in favour of the Argentine forces. In London, a nightmare scenario was being envisaged where one or both of the UK forces two aircraft carriers (HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes) was 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 mortal 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) 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 deny deliveries of recently bought AM39 to Peru in the belief that they will be given to Argentina.
Iraq used the air-launched version against Iranian shipping during the Iran-Iraq War with varying levels of success. On March 17, 1987, an Iraqi Mirage F-1 accidentally fired two exocets against the US Navy Perry class frigate USS Stark , mistaking the vessel for an Iranian tanker; the Stark was heavily damaged but saved by the crew and sent back for repairs. Tankers and other civilian shipping was often hit (it is estimated that over 200 missiles were fired during the war), although a large percentage failed to explode (several warheads and, on occasions, complete missiles, were recovered from target ships by US and UK EOD teams).
Operators
The Exocet is currently in service with France, Germany, Greece, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil, Oman, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Chile, Indonesia, Thailand, Cyprus and Peru. It also served with the Royal Navy until the last Exocet armed surface vessel was decommissioned in 2002.
The Lokata
Secrecy of the Exocet suffered a blow in the late 1970s when a civilian in Falmouth in Cornwall in England accidentally independently duplicated the Exocet's navigation system and, despite order from the Patents Office to keep it secret, sold it to the public as a small boat type navigation system called Lokata.
Etymology
The origin of the word is Greek εξω-κοιτος = "lying down outside", "sleeping under the stars", which was then applied to the flying fish referring to its habit of stranding itself by landing in boats.
External links
- Marine nationale - Alabordache Exocet missile in the French Navy
- Netmarine.net Photograph of the impact of an Exocet missile on the Jauréguiberry target ship.
- Netmarine.net Gallery of photographs of various variants of the Exocet missile.
- Argentine Account of the role of the Exocet in the Falklands War
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