AGM-142 Have Nap / Popeye

Popeye was developed by Israel as a precision air-to-surface standoff missile, with the U.S. Air Force adopting it under the AGM-142 Have Nap designation. The weapon gave large aircraft such as the B-52 a way to attack high-value fixed targets from outside dense air-defence envelopes. Its development reflects the increasing importance of man-in-the-loop precision strike before GPS-only weapons became dominant.

AGM-142/Popeye uses inertial midcourse guidance with electro-optical or imaging-infrared terminal guidance and datalink control. This allows an operator to identify or adjust aimpoint during the terminal phase, improving effectiveness against high-value targets. The missile's size and warhead make it a heavy standoff weapon rather than a small tactical missile.

In U.S. service, the AGM-142 was integrated primarily with the B-52H for conventional standoff attack. Israeli Popeye variants and derivatives also became part of a broader national precision-strike family. The missile is important because it bridges Cold War television-guided weapons and later networked precision-strike systems.