Word: exocet
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...David Rogers, head of the U.S. delegation, said he was "certain we have the information to piece together what happened." He refused to confirm reports, however, that they had not spoken with the pilot who evidently mistook the Stark for an Iranian tanker and blasted the frigate with two Exocet missiles...
...missile struck, ripping through the thin steel hull midway between the deck and the waterline. It tore open a 10-ft. by 15-ft. hole on the port side. Spewing unexpended fuel from its short flight, the Exocet smashed into the crew's cramped quarters. Sleeping sailors were jolted out of their bunks. Some were hurled through the ship's open wound and into...
That lesson was vividly illustrated during the Falklands war in 1982 when an Argentine aircraft dispatched an Exocet missile to sink the British frigate Sheffield some 40 miles away. In the next two years the French-built sea- skimming missiles were snapped up by 27 nations. Even third-rate powers suddenly acquired the ability to threaten valuable warships from over the horizon...
After the Sheffield sinking, U.S. Navy brass insisted that newly developed defensive systems would protect the rapidly growing American fleet from the sea skimmers. The Stark disaster has not changed that view. Former Navy Secretary John Lehman points out that although the Sheffield was destroyed by a single Exocet, the Stark, with a more durable superstructure and redundant protective systems, was hit by two missiles and still "sailed home under its own steam." Moreover, since the U.S. frigate was blindsided by a supposedly friendly plane, its defensive systems were never tested. "This is basically a weird exception," says Michael MccGwire...
...close range and has difficulty tracking sea-skimming missiles amid the radar "clutter" caused by waves. Even under manual operation, the Stark's Phalanx system should have detected the incoming missiles, but the ship's only warning came just seconds before impact when a lookout spotted the first Exocet. To counter such problems, Israel is developing the Barak, an antimissile missile that is launched vertically into the air and then dives down to knock out a sea skimmer as far as several miles away; the U.S. has contributed $10 million toward the project...