A harpoon is a big mean anti-ship missile that can be launched from a
B-52, a surface ship such as a guided
missile destroyer or even a submerged
submarine such as the
688 class attack boat. The Harpoon is designed to fly at wave-top altitude to avoid
radar detection. The cool thing about this missile is that it is designed to strike the
hull of the target ship just below the
water line to cause maximum flooding and increasing the possibility of the target sinking or being disabled. The other possible attack profile of the Harpoon is to "pop-up" just before impact. The missile arches over and comes screaming down on the target from directly above. This is very handy when trying to disable an enemy
aircraft carrier because it totally destroyes the
flight deck. Other possible out comes are fires (very dangrous at sea) or even the penetration of the upper deck and detonation in the
hangar or
magazine.