Bulldog was a short-range air-launched laser-guided weapon. The program was begun in 1969 and was designed and developed at China Lake as a replacement for the AGM-83 Bullpup missile. Bulldog was the first successful laser-guided missile.

The AGM-12 Bullpup was an Air Force developed command-guided missile and was the U.S.’s first mass-produced guided missile.  After Bullpup was launched, the pilot guided the missile by radio control by watching the position of tail-mounted flares in relation to his line-of-sight to the intended target. The major drawback of Bullpup was that the pilot had to remain behind and follow the missile toward the target, thus exposing his aircraft to enemy ground fire. Although used extensively by the Navy and Air Force in Vietnam, it proved inadequate against North Vietnamese bridges. The Navy also did not like the fact that Bullpup had a liquid rocket fuel motor, which could prove hazardous aboard aircraft carriers. To eliminate these drawbacks of Bullpup, the Navy initiated the Bulldog program.

Bulldog would home on reflected laser energy off a target illuminated by ground troops.  It also had solid fuel, a better choice for use on aircraft carriers. It also had a new 650-lb warhead that was more effective against bridges. However, Bulldog was canceled in 1974 in favor of the laser-guided Maverick missile that the Air Force was designing also to replace Bullpup.