The Exocet is a modern French medium-range air-to-water and water-to-water missile. Its first prototypes appeared in the late 1960s, and it entered the equipment of the French armed forces in 1975. The Exocet is a missile with a range from 42 km to 70 km (depending on the version), capable of carrying a warhead weighing 165 kg with a total curb weight of 670 kg.
Work on the Exocet missile began at Aerospatiale as early as 1967, and four years later the first test launch took place. Ultimately, the Exocet missile turned out to be a successful design. It is characterized by a low flight altitude (from 2 to 10 meters above sea level), which makes it difficult to destroy, belongs to the fire-and-forgot missiles, and has an effective inertial and active-radar guidance. In the course of the development of the design, three main versions of this missile were created. The first was the MM38 Exocet missile with a range of 42 kilometers, which became the primary anti-torsion missile of the French Navy. Later, a version of the AM39 Exocet, which could be carried by helicopters and airplanes, went into production. An extension of this version is the SM39 model, which can be used by submarines. Finally, in 1981, the MM40 Exocet was introduced with a range increased to 70 kilometers of water-to-water class. Due to its high combat value, the Exocet missile was delivered to a large number of foreign recipients, including Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Libya, Kuwait and Turkey. It demonstrated its effectiveness during the Falklands War in 1982.