{"id":15157,"date":"2018-05-17T19:11:30","date_gmt":"2018-05-17T19:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/17\/this-is-how-iraq-nearly-sank-a-us-ship-31-years-ago-today\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:06:08","slug":"this-is-how-iraq-nearly-sank-a-us-ship-31-years-ago-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/05\/17\/this-is-how-iraq-nearly-sank-a-us-ship-31-years-ago-today\/","title":{"rendered":"This is how Iraq nearly sank a US ship 31 years ago today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1967, Nord Aviation, a French precursor of the European missile<\/a> manufacturer MBDA, began development of a ship-launched guided missile<\/a>. Perfected in 1974, the missile entered French naval service in 1979 as the Exocet (French for \u201cflying fish\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a solid-propellant rocket with a range of 38 nautical miles, the weapon saw deployment as the surface-launched MM38, the air-launched AM38 and AM39, and the submarine-launched SM39. The newer surface-launched MM40 version has a turbojet engine that extends its range to 97 nautical miles. Fitted with inertial and active radar, the Exocet skims just a few yards above the ocean\u2019s surface, making it difficult to detect on radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 4, 1982, during the Falklands War, an Exocet launched from an Argentine navy Dassault-Breguet Super \u00c9tendard fighter struck the British destroyer HMS Sheffield, failing to explode but causing massive fires that ultimately sank the warship.<\/p>\n\n\n\t