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AGM-12 Bullpup | |
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Type | Air-to-ground command guided missile |
Place of origin | United States |
Service history | |
In service | ASM-N-7 1959–1970s ASM-N-7A/AGM-12B 1965–1970s |
Used by | United States, Australia, Denmark, Greece, Israel, Norway, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom |
Wars | Vietnam War |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Martin Marietta, W.L. Maxson |
Produced | 1959–1970 |
No. built | 22,100 (total)
4,600 (AGM-12C) 840 (AGM-12E) |
Variants | ASM-N-7, ASM-N-7A/AGM-12B, AGM-12C, GAM-83B/AGM-12D, AGM-12E |
Specifications | |
Mass | 1,785 pounds (810 kg) (AGM-12C) |
Length | 13.6 feet (4.1 m) |
Diameter | 18 inches (460 mm) |
Wingspan | 48 inches (1.2 m) |
Warhead | Conventional high-explosive (ASM-N-7, ASM-N-7A/AGM-12B)
Semi armor-piercing (AGM-12C)
Cluster munition (AGM-12E) |
Warhead weight | 250 pounds (110 kg) (ASM-N-7A/AGM-12B) 970 pounds (440 kg) (AGM-12C) |
Engine | Rocket 30,000 pounds-force (130 kN) |
Propellant | Solid (AGM-12A model), Storable, liquid-fuel (others) |
Operational range | 10 nautical miles (12 mi; 19 km) |
Maximum speed | approx. Mach 2 |
Guidance system | Line-of-sight radio command |
Launch platform | FJ-4B, A-4D, F-4, F-8, F-105, Draken, F-5A/B Freedom Fighter, F-100 (among others) |
The AGM-12 Bullpup is a short-range air-to-ground missile developed by Martin Marietta for the US Navy. It is among the earliest precision guided air-to-ground weapons and the first to be mass produced. It first saw operational use in 1959 on the A-4 Skyhawk, but soon found use on the A-6 Intruder, F-100 Super Sabre, F-105 Thunderchief, F-4 Phantom II, F-8 Crusader, and P-3 Orion in both Navy and US Air Force service, as well as NATO allies. The weapon was guided manually via a small joystick in the aircraft cockpit, which presented a number of problems and its ultimate accuracy was on the order of 10 metres (33 ft), greater than desired. In the 1960s it was increasingly supplanted by fully automatic weapons like the AGM-62 Walleye and AGM-65 Maverick.