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(Maritime Strike) |
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(Maritime Strike) |
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Martel Background Due to the increased sophistication of ship defence tactics, the Royal Navy needed to develop it's 'Stand-Off' and 'Radar Suppression' attacks in the mid-1960's. It was decided to adopt the Anglo-French 'Martel' missile system, whose development originally started in 1964 as a collaboration between Hawker Siddeley (Latterly BAe) in Britain with Matra from France. It's name stems from: Missile Anti-Radar Televison. |
| Martel was a 'tried and tested' system which existed in both the 'Anti-Radar' (AS.37) and 'Anti-Ship' (AJ.168) TV Missile versions. Though the projected service life of the Buccaneer S.Mk.2 was relatively short, it was decided to proceed with the development. However to accommodate the missiles, major changes were needed to the airframe. To allow for the clearance of the 'Fins', the existing pylon arrangements had to be changed. The 'Early-Style' weapon pylons employed a single-point suspension with a 'vertical' ejector ram, but to reduce height a general purpose 'Standard' weapon pylon was developed which utilised two-point suspension with a 'horizontal' ejector ram, operated by a linkage from vertical rams - The two-point suspension was the standard of most modern stores. |
 'Anti-Radar' (AS.37) Martel missile |
 'Anti-Ship' (AS.135) Martel missile (Early development model for AJ.168 'TV' missile) |
The overall weight of the missiles were 1,180-lb for the 'Anti-Radar' (AS.37) and 1,146-lb for the 'TV' (AJ.168) respectively. Their wingspan was 3ft 11in which caused a problem with the original Buccaneer 'Inner' pylon positions. These were initially set at 8ft 9in from the aircraft centreline, however the fins were found to foul the main undercarriage doors so were relocated to 9ft 01/2in from the centreline - Note: When subsequently carried, the 'Slipper' Tanks utilised the original 8ft 9in mountings. The 'Outer' pylons were relocated from 11ft 71/2in from the aircraft centreline to 13ft 61/2in to clear the missile fins to enable a full four missile weapons load. The extra weight of these missiles meant that the Buccaneer's wings could not be folded with the missiles still in situ. This was subsequently rectified by up-rating the power of the 'Wing-Fold' hydraulic rams. Also if following a sortie the missiles had not been fired, the combined landing weight meant that the Buccaneer's undercarriage needed to be strengthened due to the fact that the missiles were too expensive to be jettisoned prior to landing. Finally, a television display was necessary for the 'Observer' to control the 'TV' Martel missile onto it's target. Due to the limited available space, the display was mounted on the floor between the observer's legs. This necessitated the splaying-out of the thigh guards on the rear ejection seat. Additionally a small control column and elbow rest were mounted on the right-hand console of the 'Observer's' cockpit for the manual control of the missile. In operation, the 'Anti-Ship' (AJ.168) 'TV' Martel missile flew a pre-determined mid-course tragectory at a reasonable altitude so as to allow 'Target Aquisition' plus maintain the 'Data Link' with the launch aircraft. The missile was fitted with a Marconi Vidicon camera which transmitted TV imagery back to the Data Link pod, which in turn transmitted control inputs commanded by the Buccaneer's navigator/observer using the small control stick. The AJ.168 (ASM) missile, unlike it's successor the Sea Eagle did not attack it's target at sea level. Instead the missile dived from some height, rendering it vulnerable to later shipborne defence systems. |
Service History The firing programme for evaluation of the AJ.168 (ASM) 'TV' Martel began with the first launch in February 1970. Between then and the end of firing trials in July 1973, a total of 25 'TV' Martel Missiles had been fired. No.22 Joint Services Trials Unit, operating out of A&AEE Boscombe Down, completed the firing programme - 'Live' firings taking place at Aberporth in Cardigan Bay, Wales. Though initiated by the Royal Navy, It was not until October 1973 that 809 NAS received delivery of the first 'Martel-Capable' Buccaneer S.Mk.2D variants. The Royal Air Force were in fact the first 'Maritime Strike' force to be technically 'Martel' capable thanks to the delivery of the 'New-Build' Buccaneer S.Mk.2B's in 1972, which were built from the start with the 'Martel' missile system capability. During September/October 1974, two Buccaneers from 12 Sqn. were deployed to the French Air Force base of Cazaux, near Bordeaux, for a 4-week 'In-Service' trial of the AS.37 'AR' Martel. 12 Sqn. flew the first 'In-Service' trials of the AJ.168 'TV' Martel in October 1974 at Aberporth. The third and final trial of the AJ.168 'TV' Martel was carried out by 809 NAS at Aberporth in October 1975. Both 'Anti-Radar' and 'Anti-Ship' Missiles now successfully proven the weapons became primary attack options for both 12 Sqn., at RAF Honington and 809 NAS for the Fleet Air Arm, aboard HMS Ark Royal from late 1975. The Royal Navy continued it's aircraft carrier strike ability with the Buccaneer S.Mk.2D's of 809 NAS embarked aboard HMS Ark Royal up until her retirement in 1978. With the end of 'Fixed-Wing' carrier operations - dictated by the then Labour Government's massive 'Cost-Cutting' of the UK Armed Forces! - the Buccaneers dis-embarked to the RN Unit at RAF Hontington. From there the ex-naval aircraft were returned to BAe for the necessary upgrades to RAF Buccaneer S.Mk.2B standard before being delivered to RAF Squadrons. 12 Squadron, an ex-Avro Vulcan 'Nuclear Strike' Squadron disbanded since December 1967, was reinstated on 1st October 1969 to become the first Buccaneer RAF unit and based at RAF Honington. From it's inception to it's disbandment on the 30th September 1993, 12 Squadron was the Royal Air Force's dedicated 'Martime Strike' unit under SACLANT (Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic) as part of the maritime attack force within NATO. Throughout this period, the 'Martel missile system was the mainstay weapon of choice for 'Radar Suppression', with the 'Anti-Radar' (AS.37) Martel missile remaining in use up until the Buccaneers' retirement from 'Active' service on the 31st March 1994. |
| The 'Anti-Ship' (AJ.168) TV missile remained in service with 12 Squadron up until early 1988, when it was finally replaced by the Sea Eagle 'ASM'. The Sea Eagle is a true 'Fire and Forget' weapon, powered by a jet engine rather than a rocket, with four times the range of the 'TV' Martel - hence enabling the attacking Buccaneers to fly their attack profile; release their Sea Eagles; and return to base without ever appearing on the enemies' radar screens! |  Sea Eagle 'Anti-Ship' missile (ASM) |
Technical Specifications | Technical Specifications |
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| Designation | Martel (AS.37) | Designation | Martel (AJ.168) |
| Contractor | Hawker Siddeley (BAe) & Matra | Contractor | Hawker Siddeley (BAe) & Matra |
| Firing Trials | Feb.1970 to Jul.1973 | Firing Trials | Feb.1970 to Jul.1973 |
| Year (Into Service) | Oct.1974 (RAF) Oct.1975 (Royal Navy) | Year (Into Service) | Oct.1974 (RAF) Oct.1975 (Royal Navy) |
| Type | Anti-Radar Missile | Type | Anti-Ship Missile |
| Wingspan | 3ft 11in | Wingspan | 3ft 11in |
| Length | 13ft 9in | Length | 12ft 9in |
| Core Diameter | 1ft 4in | Core Diameter | 1ft 4in |
| Launch Weight | 1,179lb | Launch Weight | 1,265lb |
| Speed (Max) | Mach 0.84 (553kts, 636mph) | Speed (Max) | Mach 0.84 (553kts, 636mph) |
| Range (Effective) | 34 miles | Range (Effective) | 12 miles |
| Range (Max) | 74 miles | Range (Max) | 74 miles |
| Propulsion | Two-stage solid propellant rocket motors (2.4s boost, 22.2s sustain) |
Propulsion | Two-stage solid propellant rocket motors (2.4s boost, 22.2s sustain) |
| Guidance | Passive Radar Homing System | Guidance | Manual control from launch aircraft via TV imagery and Data Link Pod |
| Warhead | 330lb Proximity-Fused with delayed impact high-explosive 'Blast Fragmentation' |
Warhead | 330lb Semi-Armour Piercing (SAM) Fused by Radar |
| Source - | Buccaneer: The story of the last all-British strike aircraft (Tim Laming) The Buccaneers (Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork) Wings of Fame - volume 14 (Aerospace Publishing Ltd) RAF Buccaneer (Peter Foster) (see Reference Library page for full details) |
