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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. The name comes from a
French word for flying fish.
The Exocet is built by MBDA. 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:
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.
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EXOCET Specifications |
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Type |
Anti-ship
missile |
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Manufacturer |
MBDA |
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Weight |
AM 39 670kg, MM40 870kg,
SM 39 655kg |
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Warhead |
165kg impact with delay- and proximity-fused
high-explosive shaped charge |
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Length |
AM 39/SM 39 4.69m, MM 40 5.8m |
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Diameter |
0.35m |
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Performance |
Speed mach 0.93, range
50km, MM40 > 70km, guidance Fire and Forget inertial navigation during
cruise phase active homing during terminal phase, variants - Exocet MM38
(surface-to- surface), Exocet AM39 (air-to-surface), Exocet SM39
(submarine-to-surface), Exocet MM40 Block 1 and Block 2
(surface-to-surface or coastal batteries), Exocet MM40 Block 3
(surface-to-surface and coastal attack) |
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