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The French-made Exocet missile is an anti-ship missile that can deliver a 165 kg explosive warhead at a range of 70-180 km. It can be launched from submarines, surface ships or airplanes and is difficult to detect on radar due to its sea-skimming ability. During the Falklands War, Exocet missiles were used to devastating effect on the British Navy, sinking a destroyer and a merchant ship. The vulnerability of capital ships to anti-ship missile attacks has caused some military strategists to question their value.
The Exocet missile is a French-made anti-ship missile that has been in service since 1979. The Exocet missile can deliver a 165 kg explosive warhead at a range of 70-180 km. A sea-skimming missile, the Exocet stays close enough to the water that it can be difficult to detect on radar. There are several versions of the Exocet missile that can be launched from submarines, surface ships or airplanes. Several hundred of these missiles were fired by Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, and some were fired by Argentina at UK shipping during the Falklands War.
Optimized to do as much damage to ships as possible, an Exocet missile can travel at 315m/s (1134km/h), meaning it hits most targets within minutes of launching at full capacity. This speed is slightly less than the speed of sound, which prevents the Exocet missile from creating an easily detectable sonic boom. Initiating its flight based solely on inertia, in mid-flight the missile activates an internal radar navigation system that helps it aim at the target.
In 1982, during the Falklands War, between Argentina and the United Kingdom on the Falkland Islands off the southeast coast of Argentina, several Exocets were used to devastating effect on the British Navy. Super Entendard warplanes equipped with Exocet missiles managed to sink HMS Sheffield, a destroyer, on 4 May, and the 15,000-ton merchant ship Atlantic Conveyor on 25 May. This made the Exocet missiles famous all over the world. In the UK, the term “Exocet” has become shorthand for a devastating attack.
Recently declassified documents make it clear that at the time of the Falklands War, British military intelligence was very intimidated by Exocet missiles, worrying about a “nightmare scenario” in which one or both Navy aircraft carriers in the area may have been sunk, making much more difficult to recapture the Falklands. The cost difference between an Exocet and an aircraft carrier is huge: several million dollars versus tens of billions of dollars. The vulnerability of capital ships to anti-ship missile attacks has caused some military strategists to question the value of these vessels. Such questions play a role in strategic planning in the United States, especially in the context of a possible war with China over Taiwan. Without an effective anti-missile system, nuclear-tipped or conventional Exocets could likely sink much of the US Navy.
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