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AGM-84 Harpoon

Boeing · Air-to-Surface · USA · Cold War (1970–1991)

The AGM-84 Harpoon is an American sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missile — Boeing's (originally McDonnell Douglas's) principal anti-ship weapon for the US Navy, USAF, and allied surface-strike forces, with later land-attack derivatives. McDonnell Douglas developed the missile between 1967 and 1977, with service entry in 1977. More than 7,500 rounds have been built across all variants, and the weapon is fielded by 30+ navies including the US Navy, USAF, Royal Navy, JMSDF, ROKN, RAN, RNoN, RNetN, and many smaller fleets.

Power for the AGM-84D (Block IC baseline anti-ship round) comes from a single Teledyne CAE J402 turbojet. Top speed is Mach 0.85 (1,015 km/h subsonic), range 124 km, with a sea-skimming altitude of 2-5 m above the wave tops. The missile measures 4.6 m, weighs 661 kg, and carries a 221 kg penetrating high-explosive warhead. Guidance combines INS midcourse with active radar terminal homing. After cruising sea-skimming along a programmed track, the Harpoon executes a brief pop-up and radar-search manoeuvre near the target area, locks onto the largest radar return, then runs its terminal attack — in the Block IC, a pop-up followed by a diving impact to defeat hull armour. Launch platforms span surface ships (Mk 13, Mk 26, Mk 41 VLS), submarines (UGM-84 Sub-Harpoon), aircraft (AGM-84 from the F/A-18, P-3, P-8, B-52H, F-15K, F-16, JMSDF P-1 and others), and coastal-defence batteries.

Harpoon combat history runs long. First use came in 1986 during Operation El Dorado Canyon, when US Navy F/A-18s sank Libyan missile boats. In 1988 Operation Praying Mantis, US Navy P-3s and F/A-18s sank Iranian craft, followed by Persian Gulf engagements through the 1990s and 2000s. Since 2022, Ukrainian coastal-defence Harpoons have sunk Russian Black Sea ships and reportedly contributed to the April 2022 sinking of the cruiser Moskva. The Harpoon remains the most-numerous Western sea-strike missile and is still produced at Boeing St. Louis alongside the SLAM-ER and RBS 15 follow-on variants. The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and Long-Range Anti-ship Missile (LRASM) are now progressively replacing the Harpoon in US Navy and allied service.

For Kids — a shorter, friendlier version

The AGM-84 Harpoon is an American missile that hunts enemy ships at sea. It flies low over the waves so enemy radar cannot see it coming. Boeing has built more than 7,500 Harpoons since the missile entered service in 1977.

The Harpoon is a small jet-powered missile. It is about as long as a small car and weighs around 1,500 pounds. The missile has one small jet engine in the back and tiny wings on the sides. Inside the nose is a heavy explosive charge.

To attack a ship, the Harpoon flies just 5 to 15 feet above the ocean waves. This makes it very hard to spot or stop. Near the end of the flight, the missile pops up high and then dives down to hit the ship from above.

More than 30 navies around the world use the Harpoon. The missile can be launched from ships, submarines, airplanes, or even from coastal trucks on shore. It flies at about 650 mph, which is faster than most jet airliners.

Fun Facts

The Harpoon is an anti-ship missile that flies just above the ocean waves.
More than 7,500 Harpoons have been built since 1977.
Over 30 navies around the world use the Harpoon today.
The missile can be launched from ships, submarines, planes, or trucks.
Near the end of its flight, the Harpoon pops up and dives down onto the ship.
It flies at about 650 mph, just below the speed of sound.

Kids’ Questions

Why does the Harpoon fly so low over the water?

Enemy radar has a hard time seeing things very close to the water because the waves block the radar signal. By flying just a few feet above the waves, the Harpoon stays hidden until the very last second. This is called sea-skimming.

How does the Harpoon find its target?

The Harpoon has a small computer inside that knows where the target ship should be. When the missile gets close, a tiny radar in the nose turns on and finds the biggest ship nearby. Then the missile flies straight at it.

Variants

AGM-84A / B / C / D (Block I): Original family. 124 km range.
AGM-84F (Block ID): Extended-range round, 220 km. Limited production.
AGM-84H / K SLAM-ER: Land-attack derivative with imaging IR seeker.
AGM-84J (Block II): GPS-aided guidance, improved coastal-zone performance.

Notable Operators

US Navy + USAF (1977-present): Principal operator — surface ships, P-8 and P-3 patrol aircraft, B-52H.
30+ allied navies + air forces: Royal Navy, JMSDF, RAN, RNetN, ROKN, India, Brazil, others.
Ukraine (2022-present): Coastal-defence batteries used against Russian Black Sea Fleet shipping.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did a Harpoon sink the Moskva?

The Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva sank on 14 April 2022 after being struck by two Ukrainian-launched R-360 Neptune sea-skimming missiles — a Ukrainian design, not the Harpoon. US-supplied Harpoon coastal-defence batteries arrived later in 2022 and contributed to subsequent Black Sea Fleet losses, including the Saratov landing ship (March 2022), the Sergey Kotov patrol ship (March 2024), and several smaller missile boats. Combined Harpoon and Neptune coastal-defence fires have pushed the Russian Black Sea Fleet eastward from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk and sunk roughly one-third of the fleet between 2022 and 2024.

Sources

Wikipedia — Harpoon (missile)