Malafon

Malafon (MArine LAtécoère FONds) was a French ship-launched anti-submarine missile system. Developed in the 1950s and 1960s, the weapon was intended to take advantage of the greater detection ranges possible with towed sonar arrays. The missile entered service in 1966 and was manufactured by Groupe Latécoère

The weapon is essentially a glider-delivered version of the L4 torpedo. The launcher is a circular mount which allows the weapon to be slewed to the correct bearing, whereupon it is fired at a fixed elevation of +15°. Two solid booster rockets accelerate it to 830 km/h within 4 seconds before falling away. The unpowered glider continues at an altitude of 100 meters, altering course in mid flight under radio control of the launch platform. Effective range was 13 km. As it reaches the target the glider drops the torpedo which splashes into the sea and commences a circular search pattern. The flight time of the Malafon meant that it was expected to hit the water up to 800 m from the submarine's location. The L4 torpedo had a speed of 30 kt over a range of 5 km.

The Malafon was a large weapon, with each missile weighing 1,330 kilos. As a result it was only employed on larger vessels. It was typically used for medium and long range submarine targets, though it could have been used against surface ships.

The system was declared obsolete in 1997

Ships

The Malafon system was fitted to the following ship classes

• T 47 class destroyer
• T56 (La Galissonnière)
• Suffren-class frigate
• French destroyer Aconit
• Tourville-class frigate

Specifications

The missile had a 3.19m wingspan with the main body having a 65 cm diameter. The torpedo had a 533mm (21 inch) diameter and could dive to 300m depth

References

• http://www.harpoondatabases.com/Encyclopedia/Entry85.aspx
• http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Underwater-Warfare-Systems/Malafon-France.html