The Daily Telegraph

We did withhold details of Exocet ‘kill switch’, says French official

New First Sea Lord speaks of the alliance’s role in ‘containing’ and deterring Russian leader

- By Henry Samuel in Paris, Gordon Rayner and Danielle Sheridan

FRANCE refused to tell Britain how to stop Exocet missiles during the Falklands war because it did not want to hand over “the keys to the safe” to a rival in the arms trade, a former French defence official has admitted.

Pierre Razoux said the French had a defeat device that could “kill” an incoming missile but President François Mitterrand would not share it with Britain. Exocets fired by Argentina during the conflict claimed 46 British lives when they sank two ships and severely damaged a third.

It came as the new First Sea Lord revealed he had raised the matter with his French counterpar­t after The Daily Telegraph reported claims that France had withheld informatio­n about a “kill switch” in the missiles.

Admiral Sir Ben Key said he had been assured no such device existed, but said the Royal Navy would support an inquiry into the matter if the Government decided to hold one.

Senior MPS responded by stepping up demands for the French government to come clean, with one saying it was important to find out whether France could have done more “to save British lives”.

This week marks the 40th anniversar­y of the Exocet strike that sank HMS Sheffield, and Mr Razoux, who was a civil servant in the French ministry of defence from 1992 until 2020, disclosed that French naval vessels were equipped with electronic countermea­sures that could “neutralise” French-made missiles if they were ever used against them.

He said that France had handed over “part of the technical details” of the Exocets along with a large amount of intelligen­ce about Argentina’s weapons stockpile, but stopped short of providing Britain with the box-like device that could stop an Exocet in its tracks.

He said: “To my knowledge, this kill process… was only activated when the missile received a message from the target itself. Just like boats from the Royal Navy, French ships in a war zone had a series of electronic countermea­sures that emit signals to neutralise missiles that we could have sold and could be used against us.

“It is an object – a type of box – that emits a signal on a particular frequency with particular data. It’s as if you had a whistle or a flute.

“Each one has a different sound and frequency. Without the right emitter you cannot neutralise. But to hand this over is like giving the keys to your safe to your neighbour. It’s not done.”

Without the vital device, Britain’s only defence against the radar-guided missiles was trying to lure them away from their targets, using clouds of metal strips fired from the ships and decoys trailed from helicopter­s.

V‘The lessons of history would say that we are in a particular­ly fragile moment right now’

ladimir Putin will face a huge personal cost if he dares to encroach on further nations outside of Ukraine, the head of the Royal Navy has said.

In his first interview as First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key told The Daily Telegraph that it was imperative Nato nations worked to “contain” President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and did not allow it to “accelerate away from us”.

“The lessons of history would say that we are in a particular­ly fragile moment right now, which is why it’s really important that while the support we are giving to Ukraine at the moment is to enable them, we have to show in a robust and resilient posture across the rest of the contact line with Russia, wherever that is, at sea, in the air, the rest of the Nato landmass, so that Mr Putin understand­s that this is not something that he can broaden without huge cost to him and Russia.”

Sir Ben accused Mr Putin of committing an “egregious wrong” against Ukraine, as he urged the UK to continue to support President Volodymyr Zelensky in order to provide his fighters with “the wherewitha­l to defend their territory, their homeland and their people”.

He said that while the hope of such actions would be that Mr Putin “chooses to desist”, he admitted that outcome feels “a long way away at the moment”.

Sir Ben also cautioned that, although by a “dint of geography” the war in Ukraine is mostly a land-based campaign, the navies of Nato need to maintain a deterrent posture to “counter Putin’s actions and dissuade him from doing more”.

“We represent a threat,” he added. “The Russians effectivel­y tried to exclude any other ships from operating in the northern part of the Black Sea, and the Ukrainians demonstrat­ed that that was not something that they could do freely.”

He cautioned that “ships become valid targets” at war, and the UK needs to ensure it is prepared. “That requires for our posture to be correct, for our capabiliti­es to be properly aligned, for us to be modernisin­g and adapting to seeing what others can do and what technology opportunit­y offers us,” he said.

Sir Ben also revealed that he had spoken to his French counterpar­t, Amiral Pierre Vandier, about The Telegraph’s recent disclosure that British officials suspected Exocet missiles used in the Falklands war contained a “kill switch” that could disable them, but that France denied such a device had been inserted into the weapons.

“When I was speaking to my French opposite number yesterday evening about it, his single comment to me was ‘if we found this kill switch, could we let him know, because it would be quite helpful for him to know about’,” Sir Ben said.

Falklands veterans have now joined calls for an inquiry into the allegation­s that France withheld secrets from Britain about the lethal weapon. However, Sir Ben added that while there has been “no evidence made available to us of this capability”, he would not stand in the way of an inquiry.

“If the Government concludes that the best and right approach is to hold an inquiry, then we’ll support it,” he said.

As the former Chief of Joint Operations, Sir Ben oversaw numerous missions around the world, including Operation Pitting, which saw the evacuation of 15,000 people from Kabul. It was thought by insiders that the success of this operation is what secured his promotion as head of the Navy.

Sir Ben, who also held the position of Fleet Commander, joined the Navy as a university cadet and went on to qualify as both helicopter aircrew and as a Principal Warfare Officer. He has seen service around the world in a variety of frigates and destroyers.

Closer to home, he has pledged to work on domestic issues such as gender inequality, and vowed to take on “toxic” leaders to help women in the force.

He acknowledg­ed that despite some progress, there remained a long way to go until gender parity is achieved.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do. The day we think we’ve cracked it is the day that we fall massively behind,” he said.

“We undoubtedl­y have pockets of toxic leadership that we have to rod out, but I don’t think we’re different to any other complex organisati­on in the United Kingdom.”

Sir Ben said that while he felt “excited by the prospects” of the future and felt “genuinely thrilled that women want to serve in the Royal Navy and speak positively about it”, he could not confidentl­y say his force had learnt how to treat men and women equally.

He said the Navy had not yet “solved” how to ensure the “equitable” careers for men and women serving alongside each other, when taking into considerat­ion “the pressures of home life”, such as raising families in a service “where separation is a part and parcel of what we do”.

“Have we solved that everybody who comes to work in the Royal Navy brings out their best and is recognised for that, rewarded and applauded for that and feels comfortabl­e in an environmen­t? Have we got that right for everybody at the moment? No.”

Sir Ben’s comments on the need to ensure women are treated fairly in the Navy follow the recent publicatio­n of a damning report by the Commons defence select committee on women in the Armed Forces. It resulted in his predecesso­r, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who is now Chief of the Defence Staff, admitting that the military had failed to value servicewom­en.

In an open letter to all naval personnel, Sir Tony apologised for the Royal Navy having “not done enough for the women in our Service” and to “all the women we have let down”.

Despite the Navy’s shortcomin­gs Sir Ben insisted it was in a better place than when he started his military career more than 30 years ago.

“The Navy today is immeasurab­ly better for having women serving at sea than the one that I joined in 1984,” he said, adding that this was because it encouraged “diversity of thoughts” and “perspectiv­e”, which resulted in “a more balanced Navy”.

“Undoubtedl­y, the Navy that I joined, the leadership behaviours back then would no longer be judged appropriat­e. In some areas there was brilliant leadership, but there was also some not so good. And I think we are now seeing the benefit, not just of women but also of ethnic diversity coming into the service to help us tackle the problems of today and to seek best advantage.”

He defended the Navy being seen as “slow” in promoting women to the highest ranks, as he cited Rear Admiral Jude Terry, who was promoted to the position last year as the first woman in the Navy to hold the rank.

“Rear Admiral Jude Terry has been promoted to Rear Admiral at the same time as one of her male counterpar­ts who joined the service at the same time, so her rate of rise through the ranks has been entirely consistent.”

Sir Ben also cited the appointmen­t of Captain Sarah Oakley as the Commanding Officer of the Britannia Royal Naval College on Wednesday as an example of the progressio­n women are making within his force.

“Later this year, all four of our major training establishm­ents will be commanded by women at the same time, so I see this real pull through of talented, intelligen­t, energetic and inspiring women,” he said.

 ?? ??
 ?? ?? Admiral Sir Ben Key said the navies of Nato must maintain a deterrent posture to ‘counter Putin’s actions’
Admiral Sir Ben Key said the navies of Nato must maintain a deterrent posture to ‘counter Putin’s actions’

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom