The Malkara missile (from an Aboriginal word for "shield") was one of the earliest anti-tank guided missiles (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 Swingfire missile in the late 60s. It was intended to be light enough to deploy with airborne forces, yet powerful enough to overmatch any tank then in service. A weapons platform is generally any structure or system on which a weapon can be mounted. ... High explosive squash head, also known as HESH or HEP (in US usage, for high-explosive, plastic), rounds are a type of anti-tank explosive. ... Australian Aborigines are the main indigenous people of Australia. ... Indo-Persian Dhal Shield A shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks. ... An Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) or weapon (ATGW) is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Swingfire is a wire-guided anti-tank missile in service with the British Army. ... Centuries: 1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century Decades: 10s - 20s - 30s - 40s - 50s - 60s - 70s - 80s - 90s - 100s - 110s 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 Note: Sometimes the 60s is used as shorthand for the 1960s, the 1860s, or other such decades in various centuries... U.S. paratroopers jump into Australia on a military training exercise. ...

Development and operations

The concept of the Malkara was probably inspired by the WWII German 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 in engineering design. Development testing was carried out at Woomera Prohibited Area, and approval testing at the tank training range at Lulworth Cove, Dorset. Although testing at Dorset apparently achieved an impressive 90% P_kill, in service the missiles were not considered a great success, due to two principal failures: The Ruhrstahl X-4 was one of a series of wire guided missiles designed by Germany during World War II. The X-4 itself was an air-to-air missile, but others in the series were ground launched anti-tank missiles. ... A computer simulation or a computer model is a computer program which attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system. ... Woomera Launchpad in the 60s Woomera (31°09′ S 136°48′ E) is a town in South Australia, 488 km north of Adelaide, along the Stuart Highway. ... Lulworth Cove Lulworth Cove is a cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in Dorset, south England. ... Dorset (pronounced Dorsit, sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the southwest of England, on the English Channel coast. ...

• 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.

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 anti-ship missile and the Sea Cat surface-to-air missile. The Ikara missile was an Australian ship-launched anti-submarine missile, named after an Australian Aborigine word for a throwing stick. It was powered by a solid-fuel rocket engine and guided by radio until it was commanded to the vicinity of the submarine release the Mark 44 or Mark... An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a military missile designed for use against naval surface ships. ... Sea Cat is a surface to air missile system intended for use aboard small warships. ... A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ...

Malkara was unusual amongst anti-tank missiles in that it had a HESH (High Explosive Squash Head - US name HEP - High Explosive Plastic) warhead instead of the more usual shaped charge HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) warhead.

FV1620 Humber Hornet

A specialised air-deployable armoured fighting vehicle was developed to carry the Malkara. Based on the British Army's FV1611 Humber Pig armoured truck, it carried two Malkara missiles on a retractable boom at the rear, and could be air-dropped on a cluster of 6 parachutes. 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 appeared it must have looked like an awfully complicated way to deploy just two missiles. An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military vehicle, equipped with protection against hostile attacks and often mounted weapons. ... General characteristics Length 4. ... The Apollo 15 capsule landed safely despite a parachute failure. ... Sagger may be; The NATO reporting name for the AT-3 Soviet anti-tank missile (9M14 Malyutka) (see List of NATO reporting names for anti-tank missiles). ...

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
• Overall weight: 93.5 kg (206 lb)
• Warhead: 26 kg (57 lb) HESH
• Guidance: Wire guided MCLOS, using a thumb joystick and visual observation of two flares on the wings.
• Number built: 1000