AGM-12B Bullpup

Description

The AGM-12B Bullpup missile (scale is approximate)

The AGM-12B, also known as ASM-N-7a, was created in 1960 as an upgrade from the test series ASM-N-7 and was named officially as AGM-12B in 1962. The AGM was powered by a Thiokol LR58-RM-4 liquid propellent motor to produce a range of up to 11 km and produced a thrust of 12,000 pounds or 53 Kn. The production of AGM-12B ended in 1970 and 22,000 were produced.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• A-4B
• A-4E Early
• Buccaneer S.2
• F-4C Phantom II
• ␗F-5A
• ␗F-100A
• F-100D
• ␗F-104G
• FJ-4B VMF-232
• H-34
• Scimitar F Mk.1

General info

• Mass: 260 kg
• Guidance: Manual (MCLOS)
• Maximum speed: 245m/s
• Firing range: 8.00 km
• Explosive type: TNT
• Explosive mass: 63.5 kg
• Armour penetration: 93 mm at all distances and angles

Effective damage

high explosive

splash damage

overpresure damage

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of missiles that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

any type of ground vehicles (both player controlled ad A.I. controlled (vehicle, pillbox, base, etc)

pillboxes

small naval targets

Pros and cons

Pros:

when fired travels in a straight and precise line if not controlled

can destroy multiple targets if close enought

long range

Cons:

hard to control

hard to see at range

heavy

History

Development of the AGM-12 Bullpup began in the early 1950s, after the Korean War sparked a demand for more precise, guided, weapon systems that could hit targets which were usually more difficult to hit with conventional ordnance. Apart from that, the new weapon system ought to increase the safety of ground attack aircraft and their crews by keeping them further away from returning ground fire.

A competition was ran by the U.S. Navy and the Martin company was awarded a contract in 1954. Work on the new missile, designated ASM-N-7, began and after several years of development and testing, the new weapon system entered service with the Navy in April 1959.

The design of the American first air-to-ground missile was fairly simple - a 250lb (113 kg) warhead derived from an aerial bomb, mounted on a rocket-propelled, roll-stabilized body. The entire missile was manually guided via radio signal to its target, using direct vision. To aid with aiming, two bright flares would ignite on the missile's rear end upon launch. These would make it easier for the operator to keep track of the missile in flight as it would be more visible.

The Bullpup was first employed in combat during the Vietnam War, although only seeing limited success. This was due to the fact that in order to ensure the highest probability of a successful hit, the aircraft that launched the missile had to fly the same course as the missile until impact. This of course, exposed the aircraft to anti-air fire and severely limited the pilot/operator's situational awareness in the case of single-seat aircraft.

Nonetheless, the Bullpup was still mass-produced for both the U.S. Navy and Army, resulting in around 30,000 units made across all of the weapon's variants. Although the missile was starting to be replaced in the '70s by more advanced systems, it wasn't until the '80s when the Bullpup was finally retired from active service.

- From Devblog

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] AGM-12B Bullpup: They can't dodge