The fact that France was able to supply Ukraine with Exocet coastal missile systems was reported by the newspaper L’Opinion, citing a source from the French military department. At the same time, it was especially emphasized that Paris intended not to deliver these missiles for free, but to sell them. The price was not named.
The Exocet anti-ship missile, developed by the French company Aerospatiale, has been in service since 1973. The peak of its popularity came in the 1982 Falklands War. At the same time, he was in service with two opposing sides at once – Great Britain and Argentina. With the help of Exocet, the Argentines sank the British destroyer Sheffield and the container ship Atlantic Conveyor, and also seriously damaged the destroyer Glamorgan.
Exocet complexes were also used during the Iran-Iraq war (1981-1988), when about 115 Iranian ships and small vessels were destroyed or damaged by their use. Another successful use of the Exocet was recorded in 1987 when an Iraqi plane opened fire on the American frigate Stark in the Persian Gulf and disabled it. After that, the history of war using Exocet ended.
“French rockets were good for their time, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their initial range was from 40 to 70 km, in the latest version it was increased to 180 km, which led to a reduction in the mass of the warhead. The missile is quite powerful, it can defeat a medium ship, but its speed remains subsonic, which allows it to be detected and destroyed even on distant approaches, ”
– told the military specialist of “socialbites.ca”, the captain 1st rank reserve Viktor Makarov.
The expert added that the potential of this missile is more evident while in the air, when the carrier reaches a correct angle of attack and launches a missile with a lower probability of hitting. “However, Kyiv is provided with a coastal version of the rocket, which today may only be suitable for sinking a tugboat or boat. It doesn’t maneuver, it’s a rocket of the past generation,” says the expert.
Makarov is confident that the Exocet missile is “practically powerless” against frigates and corvettes.
“French anti-ship missiles are compared with the Russian Bal complex. But the range of our missile is 260 km. There is also the Bastion complex, which is used by Yakhont supersonic missiles, reaching the target at a distance of more than 300 km. A missile of this class can defeat a frigate-class ship and damage an aircraft carrier. Exocet has no such potential. Theoretically, it could reach Zmeiny Island and hit something there, but this is its maximum, ”Sergey Belousov, a member of the College of Military Specialists, told socialbites.ca.
Military expert Vladislav Shurygin also does not consider the Exocet a weapon that really threatens the Russian fleet.
“In general, talk about French anti-ship missiles for Ukraine is in favor of the poor. Theoretically yes, they can be delivered to the Odessa region via Romania. What to do with them, then APU? Of course, there will not even be instructions for use in Ukrainian, and French instructors will not dare to explain the principles of use. Without irony, a significant part of the weapons supplied to Ukraine by the West is absolutely useless, and some of them are not even suitable for combat use. Missiles of the Exocet complex are from this series. In terms of characteristics, they are even inferior to the ancient Ukrainian Neptune complex. This is not the kind of weapon that threatens Russian ships,” said Shurygin.