The AGM-83 Bulldog was a missile produced by the United States. The missile had its origins in the

AGM-12 Bullpup 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 th ...

. The Bullpup used a manual guidance system which required the launching aircraft to continue flying towards the target throughout the missile flight time, making it highly vulnerable to counterattack. The U.S. Navy and Air Force requested a pilot-independent guidance system for the Bullpup which would let the launching aircraft turn away after firing. In 1970,

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...

was given a Navy contract to create a laser guidance system for the Bullpup. The new missile was designated AGM-83 Bulldog; it was developed in cooperation with the Naval Weapons Center (NWC). The Bulldog was heavily based on the AGM-12B Bullpup A, but used a new 113 kg (250 lb) MK 19 blast-fragmentation warhead. It homed in on the reflection of a laser beam which was projected onto the target by ground troops. Firing trials of the AGM-83A took place in 1971–1972, with successful results. The Navy planned to get the Bulldog into service by 1974. A version for ground handling training known as the ATM-83A was also planned. However, in 1972 it was decided that the Navy should instead procure a laser-guided version of the Air Force's

AGM-65 Maverick The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground missile (AGM) designed for close air support. It is the most widely produced precision-guided missile in the Western world, and is effective against a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, ...

, the AGM-65C—which itself was later cancelled in favour of the AGM-65E.

Operators

* : The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

cancelled the AGM-83 prior to service entry. {{DEFAULTSORT:Agm-83 Bulldog AGM-083 Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States