AM39 Exocet

The AM39 Exocet is an anti-ship missile developed and built by the French firm Aérospatiale. With a maxium range of 81 km (50 miles), it employs several types of military aircraft as its launching platform (Dassault Rafale, Super Étandard, Mirage 2000, and naval helicopters). It flies at subsonic speeds, about 10 feet above the surface of the sea, using inertial navigation system and active radar homing guidance. It has been in service with the French Navy since 1974 up to the present time. The SM39 and the MM40 are the submarine-launched and the surface-launched versions, respectively.

The AM39 Exocet was first fired in anger by the Argentinean Navy during the Falklands War to strike and sink the British HMS Sheffield (D80) on May 10, 1982. Fifteen days later, on May 25, it would effectively be used again to attack and destroy the Atlantic Conveyor, a British troop transport. On the two occasions, the missile was launched from a French-made Super Étandard strike fighter aircraft in service with the Argentinean Navy. On May 17, 1987, it would again be fired in anger from an Iraqi Mirage F1 aircraft, hitting the USS Stark (FFG-31) frigate, which was seriously damaged, during the Iran-Iraq War.

The surface-launched MM38 and MM40 versions can be fitted to any class of surface warship, including frigates, destroyers, and fast patrol boats, provided the ship is equipped with surveillance and target indicating radar, a vertical reference plane gyro, and a log to indicate the enemy ship speed through the water, plus a fire control system. The range and bearing of the target are fed into the missile guidance system.

Specifications

Type: anti-ship missile

Length: 4.69 m (15 ft, 4 inch)

Body Diameter: 34.8 cm (1 ft, 1.75 inch)

Warhead:  160-kg (352-lb) high explosive.

Launch Weight: 650 kg (1,433-lb)

Airframe: cylindrical body, with pointed agival nose. Cruciform, swept-back wings, which are indexed in line with cruciform tail control surfaces.

Propulsion: one two-stage, solid-propellant motor/rocket.

Below, the Exocet under the wing of a Super Étandard fighter.

The AM39 being carried by a Super Frelon helicopter of the French Navy in 1979.

The Exocet in action (video)