*** Welcome to piglix ***

Exocet missile

Exocet
Exocet AM39 P1220892-detoured.jpg
An AM39 aircraft-launched Exocet
Type Anti-ship missile
Place of origin France
Service history
In service 1973
Used by See operators
Production history
Designer 1967–1970: Nord Aviation
1970–1974: Aérospatiale
Designed 1967
Manufacturer 1979–1999: Aérospatiale
1999–2001: Aérospatiale-Matra
2001–present: MBDA
Produced 1974
Specifications
Weight 670 kilograms (1,480 lb)
Length 4.7 metres (15 ft 5 in)
Diameter 34.8 centimetres (1 ft 1.7 in)
Warhead 165 kilograms (364 lb)

Engine

solid propellant engine

turbojet (MM40 Block 3 version)
Wingspan 1.1 metres (3 ft 7 in)
Operational
range
70–180 kilometres (43–112 mi; 38–97 nmi)
Flight altitude Sea-skimming
Speed Mach 0.92
1,134 kilometres per hour (705 mph)
Guidance
system
Inertial guidance and terminal active radar homing
Launch
platform

multi-platform:

  • MM38 surface-launched
  • AM39 air-launched
  • SM39 submarine-launched
  • MM40 surface-launched
External images
Aerospatiale EXOCET
AM 39 Exocet launched from French Navy Super Etendard
Alpha Jet Lancier multi-role with Exocet AM 39
AM 39 launched from Super Puma
Exocet MM 40 fired from French vessel
Test firing of SM 39 subsurface version of Exocet high resolution
Aerospatiale Media Relations Photo Sent Out Shortly After Falkland's War
Super Etendard taking off with test AM39 under wing. Note, electronic pod under fuselage and drop tank under other wing pylon.
Impact of a MM40 on a target ship
First test launch of Exocet MM40 Block 3

solid propellant engine

multi-platform:

The Exocet (French for "flying fish") is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical director at Nord Aviation. It is the French word for flying fish from the Latin name exocoetus, a transliteration of the Greek name for flying fish ἐξώκοιτος (exōkoitos), which literally means "lying down outside (ἒξω, κεῖμαι), sleeping outside", because it sometimes stranded itself in boats.

The Exocet is built by MBDA, a European missile company. Development began in 1967 by Nord as a ship-launched weapon named the MM 38. A few years later Aerospatiale and Nord merged. The basic body design was based on the Nord AS30 air-to-ground tactical missile. The air-launched Exocet was developed in 1974 and entered service with the French Navy five years later.

The relatively compact missile is designed for attacking small- to medium-size warships (e.g., frigates, corvettes and destroyers), although multiple hits are effective against larger vessels, such as aircraft carriers. It is guided inertially in mid-flight and turns on active radar late in its flight to find and hit its target. As a countermeasure against air defence around the target, it maintains a very low altitude during ingress, staying one–two m above the sea surface. Due to the effect of the radar horizon, this means that the target may not detect an incoming attack until the missile is only 6,000 m from impact. This leaves little time for reaction and stimulated the design of close-in weapon systems (CIWS).

Its rocket motor, which is fuelled by solid propellant, gives the Exocet a maximum range of 70 kilometres (43 mi; 38 nmi). It was replaced on the Block 3 MM40 ship-launched version of the missile with a solid-propellant booster and a turbojet sustainer motor which extends the range of the missile to more than 180 kilometres (110 mi; 97 nmi). The submarine-launched version places the missile inside a launch capsule.


...
Wikipedia

...