Ikara missile

Advances in submarine technology following World War Two led to a redundancy in traditional anti-submarine warfare methods such as ship deployed depth charges. A new approach was needed, ideally an anti-submarine weapon which could be launched well beyond the location of a submarine threat and at great speed.

The answer which Australia came up with in the 1960s was the Ikara anti-submarine missile/torpedo combination. The attack procedure would be as follows. A vessel or aircraft may detect an enemy submarine at a distance from a warship. The warship would then fire the Ikara in the direction of the submarine. When the missile reaches the approximate position of the submarine the homing torpedo is deployed and the missile drops into the sea. The torpedo is programmed to begin circling and sending out signals to detect the target. Once a target is identified, the torpedo will correct its course and direct itself to the target. The Ikara was used by RAN vessels until 1991.