Popeye

The Popeye (Hebrew: פופאי) is a family of air-to-surface missiles developed and in use by Israel, of which several types have been developed for Israeli and export users. A long-range submarine-launched cruise missile variant of the Popeye Turbo has been speculated as being employed in Israel's submarine-based nuclear forces. The United States operated the Popeye under a different designation according to US naming conventions as the AGM-142 Have Nap. Design The Popeye is designed for precision attack against large targets from stand off ranges. The standard Popeye and smaller Popeye-Lite are powered by a single-stage solid rocket. Rafael offered a Popeye Turbo air launched variant featuring a jet engine and folding wings for a UK competition specifying a cruise missile with range of at least in 1994; publicly exposing a lowest possible maximum range for that variant. An inertial guidance system pilots the missile towards the target; for terminal homing the pilot can control the missile directly via an INS and data link, aiming via either a television or imaging infrared seeker depending on the missile model. It is not necessary for the launching aircraft to direct the missile—control can be passed to another platform while the firing aircraft escapes the area. There are two choices of warhead for the export versions, a blast/fragmentation or penetrator. The alleged Israeli submarine-launched cruise missile variant is reported to be jet powered and nuclear armed with a greatly increased range, though according to the Federation of American Scientists "open literature provides little information on this system" but in a May 2000 test launch was tracked for . Air launched variants Popeye (also known as Have Nap)— standard solid-rocket–powered stand off missile, long and weighing with a blast fragmentation or I-800 penetrating warhead, inertial and imaging infrared or TV guidance. Popeye II or Popeye Lite (also known as Have Lite)— reduced size (shortened to ) and weight version (weight is now ) of the Popeye to give light aircraft such as the F-16I Sufa a precision standoff strike capability. Popeye Turbo ALCM—The Popeye Turbo air-launched cruise missile, which uses a jet engine and liquid fuel, is approx long; it is reported to have a range of more than . Crystal Maze or Raptor was developed in 2003–2004 to be lighter than Popeye for India, with a range of , weighting and carrying a warhead.