Later versions employed an extended range data link that let pilots keep flying the weapon after its release, and even change aim points during flight (command guidance).

The two engineers, soon joined by Dave Livingston, Jack Crawford, George Lewis, Larry Brown, Steve Brugler, Bob (Sam) Cunningham and several others, decided to research the idea further and quickly secured some seed money from the Navy to advance the concept.

Woodworth was the electronics expert and went so far as to take a year off from work and attend graduate school at his own expense to gain some additional theoretical knowledge needed for the project.

On 19 May 1967, Ho Chi Minh's 77th birthday, a Navy aircraft from the USS Bon Homme Richard scored a direct hit against the Hanoi power plant with a Walleye.

While softer targets such as power plants proved quite vulnerable to the Walleye, sturdier ones such as North Vietnam's well-constructed railroad bridges could not be downed even with a 1,100-pound weapon.

Direct hits by the Walleye against the Thanh Hoa Bridge south of Hanoi in 1967 failed to take down even a single span of this notoriously strong structure.

[2] To correct this major deficiency, China Lake developed a 2,000-pound version of the bomb, and deployed it to Vietnam in time for President Richard Nixon's Linebacker raids against Hanoi and Haiphong.

The new Walleye II, or "Fat Albert" as it was nicknamed after the cartoon character, officially designated Guided Weapon Mk 5,[3] had an extended range data link and could hit targets up to 45 nautical miles (83 km) from its launch point.

Cloud cover prevented the LGBs from being used, but five of the Walleyes locked on, causing heavy damage to the bridge, despite failing to bring down a span.

The aircraft that flew on that mission, (NF-104) was then painted with a kill marking of the Super Frelon[6] and displayed at the squadron's air wing (CVW-5) home base at NAF Atsugi in 1991.

[citation needed] By the end of the Gulf War, between 124 and 130 Walleyes (many from older production runs) had been launched exclusively by the US Navy with the weapon performing well.