Editing Exocet (section)

==== Post–Falklands war ====
In the years after the Falklands War, it was revealed that the British government and the [[MI6|Secret Intelligence Service]] (MI6) had been extremely concerned at the time by the perceived inadequacy of the Royal Navy's anti-missile defences against the Exocet and the missile's potential to tip the naval war decisively in favour of the Argentine forces. A scenario was envisioned in which one or both of the force's two aircraft carriers ({{HMS|Invincible|R05|2}} and {{HMS|Hermes|R12|2}}) were destroyed or incapacitated by Exocet attacks, which would make recapturing the Falklands much more difficult.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Actions were taken to contain the Exocet threat. A major intelligence operation was initiated to prevent the Argentine Navy from acquiring more of the weapons on the international market.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.falklands.info/history/hist82article17.html |title=John Nott's Story |first=Harold |last=Briley |journal=Falkland Islands Newsletter |number=81 |date=May 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122064540/http://falklands.info/history/hist82article17.html |archive-date=22 November 2010|quote=<!-- A remarkable worldwide operation then ensured to prevent further Exocets being bought by Argentina. I authorised our agents to pose as bona fide purchasers of equipment on the international market, ensuring that we outbid the Argentineans. Other agents identified Exocet missiles in various markets and covertly rendered them inoperable, based on information from the French. -->}}</ref> The operation included British intelligence agents claiming to be arms dealers able to supply large numbers of Exocets to Argentina, who diverted Argentina from pursuing sources which could genuinely supply a few missiles. France denied deliveries of Exocet AM39s purchased by Peru to avoid the possibility that Peru might supply them to Argentina because they{{clarify|reason=unclear antecedent|date=October 2021}} knew that payment would be made with credit from the [[Central Reserve Bank of Peru|Central Bank of Peru]]. British intelligence had detected the guarantee was a deposit of two hundred million dollars from the Andean Lima Bank, an owned subsidiary of the Italian [[Banco Ambrosiano]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Freedman |first=Lawrence |author-link=Lawrence Freedman |title=The Official History of the Falklands Campaign: War and Diplomacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSsxmXWChqIC&pg=PA380 |date=2005 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-7146-5207-8 |page=380}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-190366-2012-03-25.html |title=A las Malvinas en subte |date=25 March 2012 |newspaper=[[Página/12]] |language=es |access-date=9 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115153830/https://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-190366-2012-03-25.html |archive-date=15 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>