Through the same period, a much lighter man-portable weapon was also being developed, the Vickers Vigilant. With the Chieftain tank appearing to be able to defeat any Soviet design the need for a heavyweight weapon was less pressing and development was cancelled in September 1959. Unfortunately, testing demonstrated the selected guidance system was easily blocked by smoke and dust, making it ineffective on the battlefield. The idea behind Orange William was that the launcher and guidance systems were separated by up to 2 kilometres (1.2 mi), allowing the launcher to remain far behind the front line while the small and heavily camouflaged guidance vehicle moved forward where it could see the enemy. ĭesiring a more capable weapon, the Ministry of Supply funded the Orange William development at Fairey Engineering Ltd beginning in 1954. Malkara was nevertheless purchased for the airborne infantry to allow them to deal with Soviet armour at long range.
Additionally, the guidance system was difficult to use and had limited performance against moving targets. The Malkara had a number of problems, among them that the missiles had to be raised into the line of sight for firing, and the missile left a line of smoke from its rocket motor that lingered long enough to point directly back to the launcher. The British Army was among the first to introduce a heavy anti-tank missile when they introduced the Malkara in 1958.
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