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Ikara (missile)
Encyclopedia
The Ikara missile
was an Australia
n ship-launched anti-submarine missile
, named after an Australian Aboriginal
word for "throwing stick". It launched an acoustic torpedo
to a range of 10 nautical miles (18.5 km), allowing fast-reaction attacks against submarines at ranges that would otherwise require the launching ship to close for attack, placing itself at risk. Also, by flying to the general area of the target, the engagement time was dramatically reduced, giving the target less time to respond.
, its range being a maximum of 914 metres (2,998.7 ft). Even the latest modern Mark 46
lightweight torpedoes are limited in range to 4 nautical miles (7.4 km), and at their speed of 28 knots (54.9 km/h) would take 8.5 minutes to travel that distance, and are consequently unable to attack time-urgent targets at extended ranges.
Known initially as Blue Duck, the Ikara was a "Rocket-Thrown-Weapon" with similarities to the American RUR-5 (and later RUM-139) ASROC
, and the French Malafon
. It differed from ASROC in that the torpedo was recessed underneath the missile body rather than at the nose, and it was a cruise-type winged missile that flew to its target, whereas ASROC was a "point-and-shoot" ballistic rocket. Ikara's range at 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) was double that of ASROC. Ikara was generally considered a superior system to ASROC as it was accurately guided during flight to ensure optimal targeting. A submarine would be aware from sonar contacts that it was about to be attacked and could engage in evasive changes of course. In ASROC's flight time to maximum range of 55 seconds, a submarine travelling at 25 knots (49 km/h) would move 700 metres (2,296.6 ft) from its position at launch, and a prediction would be made of the submarine's likely position at torpedo splashdown. But during the design of Ikara around 1960 the range of the acoustic seeker of the Mk.44 torpedo was limited to 457 metres (1,499.3 ft) and consequently its kill probability was low. The range of the acoustic seeker was later improved.
The Turana target drone was designed and built in Australia as a development of the Ikara anti-submarine weapon system. It was a target drone with remote control that was launched from the Ikara launcher for use in naval anti-aircraft target practice.
Ikara was powered by a two-stage in-line solid-fuel Murawa rocket engine developed by Bristol Aerojet
Ltd in the UK and was guided by radio command link until it reached the vicinity of the submarine, determined by the ship's sonar contact, where it would first jettison the rear ventral fin and torpedo rear covering and then release its 12.7 inch Mark 44
or Mark 46
acoustically-guided anti-submarine torpedo. The torpedo payload would descend by parachute while the missile itself was programmed to splashdown some distance away to avoid interference with the acoustic torpedo's seeker head. The torpedo would then begin a circular search pattern to find and lock-on a submarine contact.
A variant fitted to the British Royal Navy
's Leander class frigate
differed in several respects from the original Australian version designed to operate in the Pacific. The Royal Navy required changes to the frequencies used, to enable Ikara to be used in the NATO area, where different electronic warfare conditions and international frequency agreements had to be taken into account. Neither the Australian-built analogue computer system, or the American Bunker Ramo Corporation
133 digital computer system, used in most RAN systems, were compatible with the ADA digital battle-control computers being fitted into Royal Navy ships, and this was also changed. The UK-manufactured version of the Mark 44 torpedo
also differed from the US-built version purchased by the Australians for their Ikara missiles. The British also required the missile payload to be changeable aboard ship to permit different payload combinations to be used, including a Nuclear Depth Bomb
(NDB) option, and this, together with the different ship internal layouts required further changes to the missile, storage and handling arrangements. The Australian practice was to combine the missile and payload at a shore-based ordnance facility, before issuing the complete unit to a ship. Repair or maintenance was only possible ashore, whereas in the British ships, the changes made enabled a faulty torpedo to be removed and replaced on a functioning missile, and thereby increasing the flexibility of use of very limited stocks aboard. Especially on lengthy deployments around the globe, as was more common with British ships than their Australian counterparts. The facility to change a torpedo payload aboard ship also permitted a change from a conventional torpedo to a WE.177
A NDB, a facility for a nuclear option that was not needed on ships fitted with the Australian variant of Ikara.
River class
frigates/destroyer escorts and Perth class
guided missile destroyers. There were three main variants of the system fitted to RAN ships; F1, F2, and F3. The F1 system, using an analog computer, a single launcher and without a data link, was fitted to HMA Ships and only. The F3 system, with a digital computer, digital display, single launcher and a digital data link, was fitted to the other four River class
ships. HMAS Stuart and Derwent were fitted with F3/0 systems during Halflife refits during the '80s. The F2 system, using a digital computer, digital display, two launchers and with a digital data link, was fitted to the three Perth class
destroyers. The computer used by the RAN was the AN/UYK-1 NTDS (Naval Tactical Data System) (Bunker Ramo 133).
Ikara was also operated by the Brazilian Navy
, Chilean Navy
, Royal Navy
, and Royal New Zealand Navy
. It was phased out in the early 1990s. The British purchased Ikara to fit to the two new CVA-01
aircraft carriers planned (and later cancelled) in the 1960s, and their escorts, the Type 82 destroyer
s, of which only one, HMS Bristol
was built. With the cancellation of the remaining escorts, the British were left with purchased Ikara missiles in storage, and opted to fit them into eight existing Batch 1 Leander class frigates
in need of modernisation: HM Ships Ajax
, Arethusa
, Aurora
, Dido
, Euryalus
, Galatea
, Leander
and Naiad
. The Leander class had low emitted-noise levels compared to their more modern, gas-turbine-powered successors, and were a good choice to install Ikara since the low noise level assisted the Type 2030 sonar fitted (but not to any of these ships) circa 1970 to frequently achieve impressive submarine detection ranges of more than 100 nautical miles (185.2 km) in good conditions, adding to the usefulness of the long-ranged Ikara missile.
Chile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n ship-launched anti-submarine missile
Anti-submarine missile
An anti-submarine missile is a standoff weapon including a rocket designed to rapidly deliver an explosive warhead or homing torpedo from the launch platform to the vicinity of a submarine.-History:...
, named after an Australian Aboriginal
Australian Aboriginal languages
The Australian Aboriginal languages comprise several language families and isolates native to the Australian Aborigines of Australia and a few nearby islands, but by convention excluding the languages of Tasmania and the Torres Strait Islanders...
word for "throwing stick". It launched an acoustic torpedo
Acoustic torpedo
An acoustic torpedo is a torpedo that aims itself by listening for characteristic sounds of its target or by searching for it using sonar. Acoustic torpedoes are usually designed for medium-range use, and often fired from a submarine....
to a range of 10 nautical miles (18.5 km), allowing fast-reaction attacks against submarines at ranges that would otherwise require the launching ship to close for attack, placing itself at risk. Also, by flying to the general area of the target, the engagement time was dramatically reduced, giving the target less time to respond.
Design and development
With the development of nuclear power, submarine performance, especially speed, improved dramatically, as did the threat they posed. Simultaneously, sonar detection capability at long range was also improving significantly but the weapons available to surface escort warships were still of the short-range variety. The final British development of the A/S mortar was the Limbo ahead-throwing mortarLimbo (weapon)
Limbo, or Anti Submarine Mortar Mark 10 , was the final British development of a forward-throwing anti-submarine weapon originally designed during the Second World War. Limbo, a three-barreled mortar similar to the earlier Squid that it superseded, was developed by the Admiralty Underwater Weapons...
, its range being a maximum of 914 metres (2,998.7 ft). Even the latest modern Mark 46
Mark 46
The designation Mark 46 can refer to:* Mark 46 machine gun, lighter weight version of the M249 machine gun* Mk 46 nuclear bomb* Mark 46 torpedo...
lightweight torpedoes are limited in range to 4 nautical miles (7.4 km), and at their speed of 28 knots (54.9 km/h) would take 8.5 minutes to travel that distance, and are consequently unable to attack time-urgent targets at extended ranges.
Known initially as Blue Duck, the Ikara was a "Rocket-Thrown-Weapon" with similarities to the American RUR-5 (and later RUM-139) ASROC
ASROC
ASROC is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed on over 200 USN surface ships, specifically cruisers, destroyers, and frigates...
, and the French Malafon
Malafon
Malafon was a French ship-launched anti-submarine missile system. Developed in the 1950s and 60s, the weapon was intended to take advantage of the greater detection ranges possible with towed sonar arrays. The missile entered service in 1966 and was manufactured by Groupe LatécoèreThe weapon is...
. It differed from ASROC in that the torpedo was recessed underneath the missile body rather than at the nose, and it was a cruise-type winged missile that flew to its target, whereas ASROC was a "point-and-shoot" ballistic rocket. Ikara's range at 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) was double that of ASROC. Ikara was generally considered a superior system to ASROC as it was accurately guided during flight to ensure optimal targeting. A submarine would be aware from sonar contacts that it was about to be attacked and could engage in evasive changes of course. In ASROC's flight time to maximum range of 55 seconds, a submarine travelling at 25 knots (49 km/h) would move 700 metres (2,296.6 ft) from its position at launch, and a prediction would be made of the submarine's likely position at torpedo splashdown. But during the design of Ikara around 1960 the range of the acoustic seeker of the Mk.44 torpedo was limited to 457 metres (1,499.3 ft) and consequently its kill probability was low. The range of the acoustic seeker was later improved.
Bristol Aerojet
Bristol Aerojet was a joint venture between the Bristol Aeroplane Company of the United Kingdom and Aerojet General of the US began in 1959.Bristol converted one of its wartime shadow factories into a rocket manufacturing plant in 1956....
Ltd in the UK and was guided by radio command link until it reached the vicinity of the submarine, determined by the ship's sonar contact, where it would first jettison the rear ventral fin and torpedo rear covering and then release its 12.7 inch Mark 44
Mark 44 torpedo
The Mark 44 torpedo is an obsolete air-launched and ship-launched lightweight torpedo manufactured in the U.S., and under licence in Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom with 10,500 being produced for U.S. service. It was superseded by the Mark 46 torpedo...
or Mark 46
Mark 46 torpedo
Designed to attack high-performance submarines, the Mark 46 torpedo is the backbone of the U.S. Navy's lightweight ASW torpedo inventory, and is the current NATO standard. These aerial torpedoes, such as the Mark 46 Mod 5, are expected to remain in service until the year 2015...
acoustically-guided anti-submarine torpedo. The torpedo payload would descend by parachute while the missile itself was programmed to splashdown some distance away to avoid interference with the acoustic torpedo's seeker head. The torpedo would then begin a circular search pattern to find and lock-on a submarine contact.
British variant differences
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
's Leander class frigate
Leander class frigate
The Leander class, or Type 12I frigates, comprising twenty-six vessels, was among the most numerous and long-lived classes of frigate in the Royal Navy's modern history. The class was built in three batches between 1959 and 1973...
differed in several respects from the original Australian version designed to operate in the Pacific. The Royal Navy required changes to the frequencies used, to enable Ikara to be used in the NATO area, where different electronic warfare conditions and international frequency agreements had to be taken into account. Neither the Australian-built analogue computer system, or the American Bunker Ramo Corporation
Bunker Ramo Corporation
Bunker Ramo Corporation was founded by George M. Bunker and Simon Ramo in 1964, jointly owned by Martin-Marietta and Thompson Ramo Wooldridge TRW . The resulting company, Bunker-Ramo, was based in Trumbull, Connecticut....
133 digital computer system, used in most RAN systems, were compatible with the ADA digital battle-control computers being fitted into Royal Navy ships, and this was also changed. The UK-manufactured version of the Mark 44 torpedo
Mark 44 torpedo
The Mark 44 torpedo is an obsolete air-launched and ship-launched lightweight torpedo manufactured in the U.S., and under licence in Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom with 10,500 being produced for U.S. service. It was superseded by the Mark 46 torpedo...
also differed from the US-built version purchased by the Australians for their Ikara missiles. The British also required the missile payload to be changeable aboard ship to permit different payload combinations to be used, including a Nuclear Depth Bomb
Nuclear Depth Bomb
A Nuclear Depth Bomb is the nuclear equivalent of the conventional depth charge and can be used in Anti-Submarine Warfare for attacking submerged submarines...
(NDB) option, and this, together with the different ship internal layouts required further changes to the missile, storage and handling arrangements. The Australian practice was to combine the missile and payload at a shore-based ordnance facility, before issuing the complete unit to a ship. Repair or maintenance was only possible ashore, whereas in the British ships, the changes made enabled a faulty torpedo to be removed and replaced on a functioning missile, and thereby increasing the flexibility of use of very limited stocks aboard. Especially on lengthy deployments around the globe, as was more common with British ships than their Australian counterparts. The facility to change a torpedo payload aboard ship also permitted a change from a conventional torpedo to a WE.177
WE.177
WE.177 was the last air-delivered tactical nuclear weapon of the British Armed Forces. There were three versions; WE.177A was a boosted fission weapon, while WE.177B and WE.177C were thermonuclear weapons...
A NDB, a facility for a nuclear option that was not needed on ships fitted with the Australian variant of Ikara.
Ikara fitted ships
Ikara was fitted to all of the Royal Australian Navy'sRoyal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
River class
River class destroyer escort
The River class was a class of six destroyer escorts operated by the Royal Australian Navy . Plans to acquire four vessels, based on the British Type 12M frigate, began in the 1950s. The first two vessels had some slight modifications to the design, while the next two underwent further changes...
frigates/destroyer escorts and Perth class
Perth class destroyer
The Perth class destroyers were three modified Charles F. Adams class guided missile destroyers operated by the Royal Australian Navy . Ordered from Defoe Shipbuilding Company during 1962 and 1963, HMA Ships , , and were the first guided missiled-armed warships, and the first naval ships of United...
guided missile destroyers. There were three main variants of the system fitted to RAN ships; F1, F2, and F3. The F1 system, using an analog computer, a single launcher and without a data link, was fitted to HMA Ships and only. The F3 system, with a digital computer, digital display, single launcher and a digital data link, was fitted to the other four River class
River class destroyer escort
The River class was a class of six destroyer escorts operated by the Royal Australian Navy . Plans to acquire four vessels, based on the British Type 12M frigate, began in the 1950s. The first two vessels had some slight modifications to the design, while the next two underwent further changes...
ships. HMAS Stuart and Derwent were fitted with F3/0 systems during Halflife refits during the '80s. The F2 system, using a digital computer, digital display, two launchers and with a digital data link, was fitted to the three Perth class
Perth class destroyer
The Perth class destroyers were three modified Charles F. Adams class guided missile destroyers operated by the Royal Australian Navy . Ordered from Defoe Shipbuilding Company during 1962 and 1963, HMA Ships , , and were the first guided missiled-armed warships, and the first naval ships of United...
destroyers. The computer used by the RAN was the AN/UYK-1 NTDS (Naval Tactical Data System) (Bunker Ramo 133).
Ikara was also operated by the Brazilian Navy
Brazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...
, Chilean Navy
Chilean Navy
-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...
, Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, and Royal New Zealand Navy
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
. It was phased out in the early 1990s. The British purchased Ikara to fit to the two new CVA-01
CVA-01
The CVA-01 aircraft carrier was to be a class of at least two fleet carriers that would have replaced the Royal Navy's existing aircraft carriers, most of which had been designed prior to or during World War II....
aircraft carriers planned (and later cancelled) in the 1960s, and their escorts, the Type 82 destroyer
Type 82 destroyer
The Type 82 or Bristol-class destroyer was to be a class of four Royal Navy warships intended as area air-defence destroyers to replace the County-class destroyers, and to serve as escorts to the planned CVA-01 aircraft carriers...
s, of which only one, HMS Bristol
HMS Bristol (D23)
HMS Bristol is a Type 82 destroyer, the only vessel of her class to be built for the Royal Navy. Originally intended as the first of a class of new large destroyers to escort the CVA-01 aircraft carriers projected to come into service in the early 1970s, Bristol turned out to be a unique ship...
was built. With the cancellation of the remaining escorts, the British were left with purchased Ikara missiles in storage, and opted to fit them into eight existing Batch 1 Leander class frigates
Leander class frigate
The Leander class, or Type 12I frigates, comprising twenty-six vessels, was among the most numerous and long-lived classes of frigate in the Royal Navy's modern history. The class was built in three batches between 1959 and 1973...
in need of modernisation: HM Ships Ajax
HMS Ajax (F114)
HMS Ajax was a of the Royal Navy. She was built by the famous Cammell Laird company of Birkenhead. Ajax was launched on 16 August 1962 and commissioned on 10 December 1963...
, Arethusa
HMS Arethusa (F38)
HMS Arethusa was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy . She was, like the rest of the Leanders, named after a figure of mythology. Arethusa was built by J.S. White & Company Shipbuilders of Cowes...
, Aurora
HMS Aurora (F10)
HMS Aurora was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy . Like other ships of the class, Aurora was named after a figure of mythology, Aurora being the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Eos. HMS Aurora was built by John Brown & Company, shipbuilders of Clydebank, Scotland...
, Dido
HMS Dido (F104)
HMS Dido was a Royal Navy Leander class Batch 2TA frigate. Entering service in 1961, Dido was involved in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, served with NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic on several occasions, and was one of the frigates used for the filming of the drama series...
, Euryalus
HMS Euryalus (F15)
HMS Euryalus was a of the Royal Navy . Like the rest of the class, Euryalus was named after a figure of mythology. Euryalus was built by Scotts Shipbuilders of Greenock...
, Galatea
HMS Galatea (F18)
HMS Galatea was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham on the Tyne. She was launched on the 23 May 1963 and commissioned on the 25 April 1964. She was nicknamed the "Black Pig"....
, Leander
HMS Leander (F109)
HMS Leander was the nameship of the of the Royal Navy . She was originally intended to be part of the and would have been known as Weymouth. Leander was, like the rest of the class, named after a figure of mythology. She was built by the famous Harland & Wolff of Belfast...
and Naiad
HMS Naiad (F39)
HMS Naiad was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy . Like the rest of the class, Naiad was named after a figure or figures of mythology, in this case the Naiads of Greek mythology. Naiad was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders of Scotstoun...
. The Leander class had low emitted-noise levels compared to their more modern, gas-turbine-powered successors, and were a good choice to install Ikara since the low noise level assisted the Type 2030 sonar fitted (but not to any of these ships) circa 1970 to frequently achieve impressive submarine detection ranges of more than 100 nautical miles (185.2 km) in good conditions, adding to the usefulness of the long-ranged Ikara missile.
Operators
- Royal Australian NavyRoyal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
- Brazilian NavyBrazilian NavyThe Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...
Chile
- Chilean NavyChilean Navy-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...
- Royal New Zealand NavyRoyal New Zealand NavyThe Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
- Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
External links
- http://www.middle-watch.co.uk/Ikara.htm
- http://www.adastra.adastron.com/projects/ikara.htm
- http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/ikara.htm
- http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/PhotoSearchItemDetail.asp?M=0&B=11437004
- http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aj.cashmore/.weapons/australia/.asw.html
- http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/cgi-bin/xphrase.pl?keyword=malafon
- http://fas.org/man/dod-1-1/sys/missile/vla.htm
- http://www.destroyers.org/Ord-Articles/ASROC.htm
- http://www.gyrodynehelicopters.com/asroc.htm
- http://www.nuclear-weapons.info/vw.htm#WE.177%20further_development_proposals