The Ikara missile was an Australian developed anti-submarine missile, named after an Aboriginal word for “throwing stick.” It launched an acoustic torpedo allowing fast-reaction attacks against submarines at ranges that would otherwise require the launching ship too close for an 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. Submariners disliked it and referred to IKARA as:
“Insufficient Knowledge And Random Action.”
It was phased out in the early 1990s due to the obsolescence of the Mk 44 torpedo and inability to carry the newer and heavier Mk 46 or Stingray.
Ikara Missile
- Name: Ikara Missile
- Type: Anti-submarine
- Place of origin: Australia
- Service history: 1960s-1990s
- Weight: 513 kilograms (1,131 lb)
- Length: 3.429 meters (135.0 in)
- Warhead: Mark 44, Mark 46, NDB (Nuclear Depth Bomb).
- Engine: Bristol Aerojet Murawa, a two-stage solid-fuel rocket engine.
- Wingspan: 1.524 meters (60.0 in)
- Range: 10 nautical miles (19 km)
- Flight ceiling: 335 meters (1,099 ft)
- Speed: Boost max: 713 kilometers per hour (443 mph)
- Launch platform: Ship-borne
- Museum: WA Maritime Museum
Highlights of the WA Maritime Museum
- Australia II
- HMAS Ovens
- American Whaleboat ‘Beetle’
- Ikara Missile
- Megamouth Shark
- The Dutch Galliot ‘t Weseltje
- Mariner’s Astrolabe from the Vergulde Draeck
- Parry Endeavour
A Tour of Maritime Museums
- Australian National Maritime Museum
- New Zealand Maritime Museum
- Queensland Maritime Museum
- WA Maritime Museum
- WA Shipwrecks Museum
- Intrepid, Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York
- USS Cod
- Cutty Sark, Royal Museums Greenwich
- National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
- Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich
- HMS Belfast
- Museum of London Docklands
- Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg
A Tour of Museum Ships
- Intrepid, Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York
- USS Cod
- Cutty Sark, Royal Museums Greenwich
- HMS Belfast
- HMAS Vampire (D11)
- HMAS Onslow
- HMAS Diamantina
- Forceful – Tugboat
- HMAS Ovens
~~~
“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”
– William James
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Photo Credit: GM
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