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.

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 principle 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.

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.

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.

Specifications

• Length: 1.9 m (6.3 ft)
• Diameter: 0.2 m ( 8 ")
• Wingspan: 0.8 m ( 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