FV1620 Humber Hornet Malkara

FV1620 Humber Hornet Malcala History

Humber Hornet Malkara was a necessary product of the Cold War, developed to counter the new generation of heavy tanks deployed by the Soviet Union - specifically Joseph Stalin's Soviet heavy tanks, which originated in World War II. The world war saw. The Humber was developed as an air/air-drop weapon system for use by the Royal Army Corps, the now-defunct parachute squadron of the British Army.

Although intended to replace the British Conqueror heavy tanks as front-line armored destroyers, the Hornet Markara vehicles were paid only to the Royal Army Corps.

The Humber Hornet Malkara was developed on a wheeled 4x4 chassis, using the Humber 1 ton as the base. Two Markara wire-guided anti-tank missiles are mounted on retractable launchers at the rear of the vehicle, and the standard operator consists of three people - the driver, commander and weapons specialist.

Training and design make the vehicle combat-ready within ten minutes of being on the ground via six parachutes. The gun operator, seated on the left side of the fighting compartment, controls the missiles launched in flight with manual control (wired guidance) via a joystick assisted by a roof periscope with integrated magnification.

The weapon is also designed for semi-long-range launch, allowing the operator to launch missiles from a distance of up to 90 meters from the vehicle through special equipment.

The Markara missile is a two-stage anti-tank missile with a stabilized fin over two meters in length. The warhead would be the largest type ever installed on an anti-tank missile, although this might be considered a necessary mass given the level of armor protection of Soviet heavy tanks at the time.

The warhead is a HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) type warhead and weighs 200 pounds per missile unit. The main design and engineering of the rocket itself was done by several Australian companies in conjunction with several British companies.

The vehicle is powered by a 120 hp 6-cylinder Rolls-Royce B60 Mk 5A Series petrol engine. This gives the Hornet Malkara a top speed of 40 mph and a range of 250 miles.

Hornet Malkaras served in the Australian and British Air Forces. This system entered service in 1955 and was maintained until the 1970s, when it was replaced by the Mk 5 series of wheeled ferret armored vehicles equipped with Swingfire.

The official British Army designation for the Humber Hornet Malkara is "FV1620, Truck 1 ton, Air Portable, Launcher, Hornet".

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

2 x Hornet Markara Wire-Guided Anti-Tank Missiles.

Changes