South Africa has ordered a small quantity of Exocet MM40 anti-ship missiles to arm its four new Meko-A-200 corvettes. While each ship can carry eight missiles, the South Africans will order only about 25 missiles due to a budget shortage. More might be ordered later. The South Africans want access to European missile technology for use in several of their own missile programs, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank types. The new South African submarines will also need some kind of anti-ship missile.--Stephen V Cole