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.
