The Exocet is an anti-ship missile of French origin. It was developed in the early 1970's as armament for surface vessels but submarine and air launched models have been developed as well. The name Exocet is French for flying fish. This name was given either due to their tendency to land themselves in fishing boats or for the missile's sea skimming ability. The Exocet missile became famous during the Falkland war in which both the UK and Argentina used the Exocet. It was most widely used during the Iran - Iraq war.

The Exocet is a conventional missile with a cylindrical body, pointed nose and cruciform wings in the middle and at the rear. The guidance section is located in the front and is followed by the warhead. Most of the missile is made up by the single stage solid propellant rocket motor which powers the missile. Over time the capabilities of the Exocet have been improved by upgrading the electronics and the rocket motor. The latest version has a turbofan engine and has a significantly increased range.

The Exocet is fed with target data by the launch platform. Upon launch it travels inertially towards the target area. Later versions add GPS guidance to the inertial navigation and add the ability to follow waypoints. For the final stage the missile uses active radar homing. The radar has a maximum range of 24 km but is normally used within a range of 12 to 15 km. During the cruise phase the Exocet flies at roughly 100 m altitude. Depending on the sea state the final phase is sea skimming at an altitude of 2 to 15 meters.

The Exocet is a subsonic sea skimming anti-ship missile that travels at Mach 0.9. The original MM38 has a maximum range of 42 km, the improved MM40 may reach up to 70 km and the latest turbofan powered MM40 Block 3 has the longest range of all with 180 km. The 165 kg HE-frag warhead deals substantial damage but destroyers and larger vessels require multiple hits.

The MM38 and MM40 are surface launched models that can be launched from a wide variety of vessels and coastal defense systems. The air launched AM39 may be launched from aircraft such as the AMX, Jaguar, Mirage 5, Mirage F-1, Mirage 2000, Super Etendard and Atlantique. Unlike most full size anti-ship missiles the AM39 can also be launched from helicopter such as the Super Puma, Super Frelon and Sea King. The submarine launched SM39 is launched from 533mm torpedo tubes and uses a special steerable capsule.

The Exocet is one the main anti-ship missiles in the world and is fitted to many Cold War era vessels. Compared to the US Harpoon and Italian Otomat the Exocet lacks range and destructive power but it is cheap and easily integrated on many types of vessels. The Exocet remains in production but sales are limited, although the latest models have a much increased performance.