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The Malkara missile (from an Aboriginal word for "shield
Shield

A shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks. The term often refers to a device that is held in the hand, as opposed to armour or a bullet proof vest....
") was one of the earliest anti-tank guided missile
Anti-tank guided missile

An anti-tank guided missile or anti-tank guided weapon is a Missile guidance missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily-armored tanks and other armored fighting vehicles....
s (ATGMs). It was jointly developed by Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 between 1951 and 1954, and was in service from 1958 until gradually replaced by the Swingfire
Swingfire

Swingfire is a United Kingdom wire-guided missile anti-tank guided missile....
 missile in the late 1960s. It was intended to be light enough to deploy with airborne forces, yet powerful enough to knock out any tank
Tank

A tank is a Continuous track, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and Military tactics Offensive and defence capabilities....
 then in service.

concept of the Malkara was probably inspired by the WWII German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 X-7 anti-tank missile.






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The Malkara missile (from an Aboriginal word for "shield
Shield

A shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks. The term often refers to a device that is held in the hand, as opposed to armour or a bullet proof vest....
") was one of the earliest anti-tank guided missile
Anti-tank guided missile

An anti-tank guided missile or anti-tank guided weapon is a Missile guidance missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily-armored tanks and other armored fighting vehicles....
s (ATGMs). It was jointly developed by Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 between 1951 and 1954, and was in service from 1958 until gradually replaced by the Swingfire
Swingfire

Swingfire is a United Kingdom wire-guided missile anti-tank guided missile....
 missile in the late 1960s. It was intended to be light enough to deploy with airborne forces, yet powerful enough to knock out any tank
Tank

A tank is a Continuous track, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and Military tactics Offensive and defence capabilities....
 then in service.

Development and operations

The concept of the Malkara was probably inspired by the WWII German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 X-7 anti-tank missile. Design was principally undertaken at the Australian Government Aeronautical Research Laboratory, and this phase was also one of the first examples of computer simulation
Computer simulation

A computer simulation, a computer model or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulation an abstract model of a particular system....
 in engineering design. Development testing was carried out at Woomera Prohibited Area
Woomera, South Australia

Woomera is a Australian Defence owned town in South Australia, 488 km/305 mi. north of Adelaide, along the Stuart Highway.Woomera was established as the base support facility for the Woomera Prohited Area during the Anglo-Australian project that commenced in 1947 and wound up in the early 1970's....
, and approval testing at the tank training range at Lulworth Cove
Lulworth Cove

Lulworth Cove is a cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in Dorset, southern England. The cove is one of the finest examples of such a landform in the world, and is a tourist location, with over 1 million visitors a year....
, Dorset
Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
. Although testing at Dorset apparently achieved an impressive 90% Pkill, in service the missiles were not considered a great success, due to three principal failures:
  • They were considered too heavy. As they were too heavy for manpacking, they could only be operated from their specialist vehicles, reducing flexibility; and
  • Accuracy achieved in practice was poor. This may have been because the awkward control system required a lot of practice, and there was neither a simulation system nor sufficient missiles for practice firing. In their memoirs, some operators state that they only fired one missile in their careers.
  • Finally, their speed was low, with almost 30 secs to the maximum range


However, lessons learned from the Malkara project led to improvements in later programs. In addition, the basic airframe and expertise were directly used in the development of the Ikara
Ikara (missile)

The Ikara missile was an Australian ship-launched anti-submarine missile, named after an Australian Aboriginal languages word for a "throwing stick"....
 anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missile

File:Martel TV-Guided Missile - Elvington - BB.jpgAnti-ship missiles are guided missile designed for use against ships. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type and use a combination of inertial guidance system and radar guidance....
 and the Sea Cat
Sea Cat missile

Sea Cat was a United Kingdom short-range surface to air missile system intended to replace the ubiquitous Bofors 40 mm gun aboard warships of all sizes....
 surface-to-air missile
Surface-to-air missile

A surface to air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. It is a type of anti-aircraft....
.

Malkara was unusual amongst anti-tank missiles in that it had a High Explosive Squash Head
High explosive squash head

High explosive squash head is a type of explosive ammunition that is effective against buildings and is also used against tank vehicle armour....
 (HESH), also known as High Explosive Plastic (HEP), warhead instead of the more usual shaped charge HEAT
Heat

In physics and thermodynamics, heat is any transfer of energy from one body or thermodynamic system to another due to a difference in temperature....
 (High Explosive Anti Tank) warhead. The United Kingdom showed always interest for HESH, the main explosive-based anti-tank ammunition in British use including tanks like the Centurion
Centurion tank

The Centurion was the primary United Kingdom main battle tank of the postwar period, and has proven itself be a successful tank design for most of the postwar decades; the Centurion's success has been mainly due to its thick armour, adaptability of its chassis to other roles, and numerous upgrades....
. A 26/27 kg anti-tank warhead was well above the average, but Malkara had a caliber of 203 mm.

FV1620 Humber Hornet

"FV1620, Truck 1 ton, air portable, launcher, Hornet" was a specialised air-deployable armoured fighting vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle

An armoured fighting vehicle is a military vehicle, protected by vehicle armour and armed with weapons. Most AFVs are equipped for driving in rugged terrain....
 was developed to carry the Malkara. Based on the British Army's FV1611 Humber Pig
Humber Pig

The Humber Pig was a vehicle armour truck used by the British Army from the 1950s until the 1990s. The Pig was also used by the Royal Ulster Constabulary for a short period during the late 1960s and early 1970s....
 armoured truck, it carried two Malkara missiles on a retractable boom at the rear with two reloads. It could be carried in a Blackburn Beverley
Blackburn Beverley

The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s United Kingdom heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn Aircraft....
 and air-dropped on a cluster of 6 parachute
Parachute

A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating Drag .Parachutes are made out of cloth, most commonly nylon....
s. While this did mean that airborne forces could pack a weapon that could destroy tanks from outside the effective range of tank gunnery, by the time the AT-3 Sagger
AT-3 Sagger

The 9K11 Malyutka is the is an MCLOS Wire-guided missile anti-tank guided missile developed in the Soviet Union. It was the first man-portable anti-tank guided missile of the Soviet Union and is probably the most widely produced ATGM of all time—with Soviet production peaking at 25,000 missiles a year during the 1960s and 1970s....
 appeared it must have looked like an awfully complicated way to deploy just two missiles. It was operated by a Squadron of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment
2nd Royal Tank Regiment

The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment is an Cavalry regiments of the British Army of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps....
.

Operators

  • British Army
    British Army

    The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....


Specifications

  • Length: 1.9 m (6.3 ft)
  • Diameter: 200 mm (8 in)
  • Wingspan: 800 mm (2.6 ft)
  • Range: 4000 m (4400 yd)
  • Propulsion: Dual thrust solid rocket
    Solid rocket

    A solid rocket or a solid-fuel rocket is a rocket with a motor that uses Rocket fuel#Solid propellants . The earliest rockets were solid fueled, powered by gunpowder, used by the Science and technology in China and Inventions in the Muslim world in warfare as early as the 13th century....
  • Speed: 146.19 m/s (327 mph) - low-subsonic, 28 sec to 4 km max range
  • Overall weight: 93.5 kg (206 lb
    Pound (mass)

    The pound or pound-mass is a Units of measurement of massused in the Imperial unit, United States customary units and other systems of measurement....
    )
  • Warhead: 26 kg (57 lb) HESH
    High explosive squash head

    High explosive squash head is a type of explosive ammunition that is effective against buildings and is also used against tank vehicle armour....
  • Guidance: Wire guided
    Wire-guided missile

    A wire-guided missile is a missile that is guided by signals sent to it via thin wires connected to both the missile and its guidance mechanism, which is located somewhere near the launch site....
     MCLOS
    MCLOS

    MCLOS is a first-generation method for guiding guided missiles.With an MCLOS missile, the operator must track the missile and the target simultaneously and guide the missile to the target....
    , using a thumb joystick
    Joystick

    A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks are often used to control video games, and usually have one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer....
     and visual observation of two flares on the wings.
  • Number built: 1000


See also