The hard-hitting but short-lived Malkara was the first in a line of British Army missile systems and was best known for its use on an air-portable armoured car John Ash profiles the Anglo-Australian tank-killer
Through the early Cold War, the armour profiles of new Soviet tanks caused alarm. First seen in September 1945, the IS-3 and, from 1953, the T-10 both had heavy, well-sloped protection. In between was the T-54, in 1947, and its successor T-55. These combined a capable 100mm gun with excellent frontal protection and a thickly armoured, low-profile, dome-shaped turret, all in a vehicle weighing just 36 tonnes.
Concerned the 90mm and 20Pdr guns in widespread use in the West were ineffective against them (though this was not necessarily the case) projects to procure a variety of larger guns were pursued. Most were impractically big, heavy and expensive and while the British-developed 105mm and 120mm guns give its tanks the edge, such arms were beyond the reach of light units. The army was adopting the powerful BAT series of recoilless rifles, but given their limited range, it was keen to develop longrange anti-tank capability to bridge between the infantry’s shoulder-fired launchers, BATs and ri…
