Martel Missile (AJ.168) (AS.37)

Summary

As standard armament for attack of enemy targets the Buccaneer carried under its wings four Martel air-to-surface missiles. The Martel was developed jointly by the Anglo-French companies Hawker-Siddeley and Matra. It went into operational service at both countries. The French Armee de l’Air used their Mirage III as a launching platform. Basically there were two versions of the Martel. The missile designated as AS.37 was fitted with a device homing on the radar installation of enemy ships and anti-aircraft batteries. A different version designated as AJ.168 had for homing to its target a nose-mounted TV camera. Externally the two versions could be easily distinguished by the shape of their nose cone. The Martel (an abbreviation for Missile-Anti-Radiation-TELevision) was a weapon with a length of 4.18 m, a diameter of 0.4 m and a weight of 550 kg. It was powered by a two-stage rocket motor with solid propellant and was fitted with cruciform small wings with a span of 1.2 m and had a maximum range of 60 km. Once fired it cruised to its target with a speed of some 1000 km/h (Mach 0.9). It was armed with an armour-piercing explosive load of 150 kg with a proximity fuse. The Buccaneer used the Martel until it was replaced by the Sea Eagle.

Sea Eagle

For attacks on enemy ships British Aerospace (‘BAe Dynamics’) developed a missile more or less in the same class as the French Exocet. The weapon had a length of 4.24 m, cruciform wings with a span of 1.2 m, a body diameter of 0.4 m and a total weight of 580 kg. It carried an explosive load of 230 kg PBX (Polymer- Bound-Explosive) and was semi-armour piercing. It was powered by a small paraffin-burning turbojet and was inertial-guided with active radar homing. Just like the French Exocet it was a sea-skimming weapon, and as such much more difficult to intercept than the Martel. Its load was regarded as sufficient to sink or disable a large military vessel like an aircraft carrier and its systems were protected against jamming or decoys.

It was operated both by Royal Navy and R.A.F. and it was also exported to Saudi Arabia and India. Just like the Martel it flew at subsonic speeds (up to Mach 0.9). However, it had a much larger range than the Martel: more than 110 km with a flight duration of almost seven minutes.