Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Ikara the Weapon Thrower (1963)

A video which normally appears on this page did not load because the Flash plug-in was not found on your computer. You can download and install the free Flash plug-in then view the video. Or you can view the same video as a downloadable MP4 file without installing the Flash plug-in.

Email a link to this page
To:
CC:
Subject:
Body:
clip Launching tests education content clip 1

Original classification rating: not rated. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This clip shows the first testing of a full size version of the newly developed Ikara missile, conducted at Woomera from about December 1961 onwards.

Curator’s notes

by Adrienne Parr

In December 1961 the first full-scale unguided missile was tested, and then by April 1963 fully guided launch trials were underway. The weapon weighed 635 kilograms in total and was powered by a two stage solid propellant motor. It was almost five metres long with a wing span of just over two metres. The wings were removable and were fitted just before loading on to the launcher. It flew at about 440 kilometres per hour, locking into a height of about 300 metres at the end of the boost. It was guided by ship borne radar and transponder in the missile, with the information being processed and command signal provided by a computer on board ship. In the terminal phase of the flight path it was steered over to a sonar contact where it dropped a Mark 44 or Mark 46 torpedo, then dived into the sea well clear of the torpedo’s homing radius.

In an extended shot of Ikara in flight, accompanied only by music, the aestheticised weapon’s destruction capability is belied as the missile becomes completely bird-like.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer Launching tests from the sponsored film Ikara the Weapon Thrower as a high quality video download.

To play the downloadable video, you need QuickTime 7.0, VLC, or similar.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before downloading the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

This clip is available in the following configurations:

File nameSizeQualitySuitability
ikarathe2_pr.mp4 Large: 23.2MB High Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer.
ikarathe2_bb.mp4 Medium: 11.0MB Medium Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods.

Right-click on the links above to download video files to your computer.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer this clip in an embeddable format for personal or non-commercial educational use in full form on your own website or your own blog.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before embedding the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip: