NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Defense companies General Atomics and Rafael are entering a partnership to produce a long-range, precision-guided strike missile to meet multiple United States military service requirements, the companies announced today at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space conference.
Dubbed “Bullseye” by the companies, the missile will provide “multiplatform launch capabilities from air, ground and sea for strike mass at an affordable price point,” the announcement states.
Under a memorandum of understanding with the Israeli firm Rafael, General Atomics’ Electromagnetic Systems group (GA-EMS) will become a U.S.-based manufacturer of the missile. The company plans to build the missiles at manufacturing facilities in Tupelo, MS.
A General Atomics spokesperson declined to specify which U.S. service branches are expected to use the missile, but said it is designed to be launched first from the air, followed by ground and sea and can “support various mission parameters and [operational concepts] without changing the basic missile configuration and profile making it an appealing solution for all services and joint operations.”
“GA-EMS has responded to numerous inquiries from potential customers across the services to help align the capabilities of the Bullseye missile with the needs of those customers looking for a highly capable, precision-guided missile,” the spokesperson added.
The missile’s design is currently at technology readiness level eight, the announcement states, with Rafael having already performed aerodynamics, engine, seeker and launch integration testing. Further testing to demonstrate flight qualification and operational readiness is expected to begin in late 2025.
“We are excited to work with Rafael to introduce Bullseye, a highly effective, deep-strike missile. Bullseye will be built in the U.S. for delivery to U.S. military customers to support a variety of critical Department of Defense and coalition partners’ precision-fires missions,” GA-EMS President Scott Forney said in a statement included in the release.
“By leveraging Rafael’s extensive investment in the design, maturation and testing of a unique, modular missile, we can reduce risk and development costs and provide production-scale delivery of a highly capable, high-performance, precision-guided missile at significant per-unit cost-savings,” Forney’s statement continued.