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Ikara anti-submarine missile

Designer Hawker Siddeley Electronics Limited

Maker Commonwealth Government Ordnance Factory (Australian)

Date1978

Object number00029297

NameMissile

MediumMetal

DimensionsOverall: 3040 x 800 x 400 mm, 522 kg (Weight includes wings registered as UE000712)

ClassificationsArmament

Credit LineANMM Collection Transferred from the Department of Defence

Terms

Bendigo

DescriptionThe Ikara missile was designed to deliver a homing torpedo against a target submarine. It was launched from a surface ship using computers to calculate the torpedo's dropping position. The Ikara was originally designed in Australia but became a joint program with British Aerospace after the Royal Navy expressed interest in the system. The first trial operations took place on board HMAS STUART in 1963-64.HistoryThe concept of Ikara is the employment of a guided missile to deliver a homing torpedo to target the submarine. It was designed in Australia in the early 1960s jointly by aeronautical research laboratories and government aircraft factories. When the British Royal Navy expressed an interest in the system, the program became a joint one with British Aerospace. The first operational missiles were trialled on HMAS STUART in 1963-64. The Ikara missile is launched from a surface ship which uses computer calculations to fix the torpedo dropping position. This guidance system continuously updates the optimum dropping position. After release from the Ikara vehicle, a lightweight torpedo such as a Mk 44 or Mk 46 descends by parachute. When the torpedo reaches the sea the parachute is discarded and the torpedo carries out a homing attack on the target submarine. This missile was manufactured by the Commonwealth Government Ordnance Factory in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia in 1978.SignificanceThe Ikara demonstrates developments in Australian warfare technology during the 1960s. The missile's design utilised improvements in sonar and computers to allow guided weapons to reach their targets.