General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, a diversified technologies company, has partnered with an Israeli defense company to produce a missile in Tupelo.
On Monday, officials with General Atomics signed a memorandum of understanding with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to be its partner and the United States’s prime contractor to manufacture a long-range, precision-guided strike missile. The “Bullseye” missile, which will be made in the Magnolia State, is anticipated to provide multi-platform launch capabilities from air, ground, and sea for strike mass at an economic-friendly cost.
“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,” Scott Forney, president of General Atomics, said.
“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.”
According to a release, the “Bullseye” missile will showcase the weapon system’s effectiveness in identifying and engaging a range of targets for long-range precision strikes. Bullseye’s modular, scalable design will allow for incremental development, interoperability, and system component upgrades to meet multiple Department of Defense service requirements.
The missile’s design is currently at Technology Readiness Level 8. Rafael has successfully performed aerodynamics, engine, seeker, launch integration, and testing. Additional testing is being scheduled for flight qualification and to prove operational readiness with missiles on order and scheduled for delivery starting late 2025 and onwards.
The missile will be compliant with applicable U.S. military standards and will be built and integrated at General Atomics’ Tupelo manufacturing center.
