The Malkara (from an Aboriginal word for "

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

") was one of the earliest guided

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a missile guidance, guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy armoured fighting vehicle, heavily armored military v ...

s (ATGMs). It was jointly developed by Australia and the United Kingdom between 1951 and 1954, and was in service from 1958 until gradually replaced by the

Vickers Vigilant The Vickers Vigilant was a British 1960s era MCLOS Wire-guided missile, wire-guided anti-tank missile used by the British Army. It was also licence-built in the United States by Clevite for the US Marine Corps, and sometimes known as Clevite roun ...

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 A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

then in service. The basic form was later adapted for the short-range

surface-to-air A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...

role as the Seacat and influenced the development of the

Ikara Ikara is a town and local government area (LGA) in Kaduna State, northern Nigeria, located around (85 km) north-east from the city of Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria, located at ...

Development and operations

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 is the running of a mathematical model on a computer, the model being designed to represent the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be determin ...

in engineering design. Development testing was carried out at Woomera Prohibited Area, and approval testing at the tank training range at Lulworth Cove,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. Although testing at Dorset apparently achieved an impressive 90% P_kill, 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. Malkara had a training simulator integrated with the launch interface equipment. In their memoirs, some operators state that they only fired one missile in their careers. *Finally, their speed was low, taking almost 30 seconds to reach maximum range. Hornet Malkara img 2363

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

anti-submarine missile An anti-submarine missile is a standoff missile, standoff anti-submarine weapon, often a specialized variant of anti-ship missile. Anti-submarine missiles usually include a jet engine, jet or rocket engine, rocket engine and a warhead aimed di ...

and the Sea Cat naval

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

. Malkara was unusual among anti-tank missiles in that it had a High-explosive squash head (HESH), also known as High Explosive Plastic (HEP), warhead instead of the more usual shaped charge

HEAT In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

(High Explosive Anti Tank) warhead. The United Kingdom always showed interest for HESH, the main explosive-based anti-tank ammunition in British use including contemporary tanks like the

Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

. A 26/27 kg anti-tank warhead was well above the average, but Malkara had a calibre of .

Operators

; *

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Specifications

* Length: * Diameter: * Wingspan: * Range: * Propulsion: Dual thrust

solid rocket A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/ oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder. The inception of gunpowder rockets in warfare can be cr ...

* Speed: 146.19 m/s (327 mph) - low-subsonic, 28 sec to 4 km max range * Overall weight: 93.5 kg (206 lb) * Warhead: HESH * Guidance: Wire guided

MCLOS Manual command to line of sight (MCLOS or MACLOS) is a 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. Typically the missile is ste ...

, using a thumb

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, 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. Also known as the control column, it is the principal control devic ...

and visual observation of two flares on the wings. * Number built: 1,000

References

Sources

*''War Machine encyclopedia'', Aerospace Publishing Ltd., pag. 253 (in Italian version printed by De Agostini, 1984). *''Rockets and Missiles'' - John W. R. Taylor - Hippo Books No 8 - Hamlyn, 1971 - {{UKmissiles Anti-tank guided missiles of Australia Anti-tank guided missiles of the United Kingdom Anti-tank guided missiles of the Cold War Military equipment introduced in the 1950s Wire-guided missiles

Development and operations

Operators

Specifications

See also

References

Sources