On May 4, 1982, an event unfolded that would dramatically underscore the potency of modern anti-ship missiles in naval warfare. An Argentine Navy Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard, armed with a French-made AM39 Exocet missile, launched an attack that would result in the sinking of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Sheffield. This attack, occurring during the broader context of the Falklands War—a conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands.
The HMS Sheffield’s tragic fate was not the only instance where the Exocet’s lethality was demonstrated during the conflict. The merchant ship Atlantic Conveyor was also struck by two of these missiles on May 25, resulting in the loss of critical military assets and 12 lives. Additionally, on June 12, a modified land-based Exocet hit the destroyer HMS Glamorgan, further emphasizing the significant impact these weapons had on the course of the war.
The Exocet missile itself, developed in 1967 with the ship-launched MM38 version, had been refined into the air-launched AM39. It boasted a solid-propellant rocket engine and was capable of reaching a maximum speed of 715mph, approximately Mach 0.93. It has the ability to skim the sea surface at high speeds while carrying a high-explosive fragmentation warhead of 372lb within its 1,477lb launch weight. The weapon’s autonomy, inertial navigation system, and radar for the final targeting phase made it a formidable challenge for ship defenses of the time.
In response to the threat posed by the Exocet, the British government and its Secret Intelligence Service undertook a major intelligence operation to prevent Argentina from acquiring additional missiles. This included covert actions such as impersonating arms dealers to divert Argentina from genuine supply sources.
The sinking of the Sheffield and the other attacks had profound implications for the Royal Navy, not least because the loss of one or both of the force’s two aircraft carriers—HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes—could have dramatically altered the outcome of the war. The potential for such a loss forced British commanders to adapt their tactical and strategic planning, reshaping their approach to naval engagements.
Relevant articles:
– Hunting the Exocet, royalmarineshistory.com, Jun 29, 2022
– A Failure in the Falklands, U.S. Naval Institute
– Exocet missile: how the sinking of HMS Sheffield made it famous, The Guardian, Oct 15, 2017
– A Sad and Bloody Business: Land Force Lessons from the Falklands, Forty Years On, Army University Press (.mil), May 2, 2023