Greek Minister of Defence Nikos Dendias stated that a deal was signed with France for 16 MBDA’s Exocet anti-ship missiles in MM40 ship-to-ship configuration.

Reuters reported that Dendias announced the acquisition on the 14th of April. The missiles are likely to arm Greece’s upcoming Kimon-class Belharra frigates built by Naval Group as they are in the ship-to-ship configuration MM40. The missiles’ exact version is likely MM40 Block 3, considering the abandonment of rocket-powered Exocet variants for ship use as turbojet propulsion offers far greater range.

French-Greek Military Cooperation

France has been a major supplier of Greece, with the cooperation strengthening further in recent years. Greece has acquired major equipment from France, such as Rafale fighter jets and Belharra frigates, with possible extra orders. Of course, such platforms also come with accompanying acquisitions of weaponry and services, which are the stronger factors in deepening the relations.

Exocet Anti-Ship Missile Family

France developed Exocet as a family of anti-ship missiles available to a variety of platforms; including warships, helicopters, combat aircraft, submarines, and coastal batteries. All variants in the family use a combination of INS and active radar seeker for guidance.

MM38 and MM40 are the surface-launched variants with MM40 incorporating improved guidance features. Up to MM40 Block 3, surface-launched variants use rocket propulsion. MM40 Block 2 has a range of 70+ km, while Block 3 can reach 200 km.

AM39 is the air-launched configuration with different launch interfaces intended for helicopters and combat aircraft. Similarly, with MM40 Block 2, AM39 can reach a range of 70+ km.

SM39 is the smaller submarine-launched configuration, launched through surfacing capsules. Due to the shorter rocket motor section, SM39 is limited to 50 km in range. The SM40 variant with turbojet propulsion will succeed the missile to solve the problem of shorter range compared to competing missiles like the UGM-84 Sub-Harpoon.

Author: Kaan Azman

Editor: Özgür Ekşi