U.S. Marines Conduct Low-Altitude Long-Range Strike Trial of Red Wolf Missile from AH-1Z Helicopter
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The U.S. Marine Corps has successfully test-fired the Red Wolf launched-effects vehicle from an AH-1Z Viper helicopter during a low-altitude trial over the Atlantic Test Range, according to L3Harris Technologies. The event underscores a growing Pentagon emphasis on affordable, networked long-range weapons that can complicate enemy defenses without relying solely on costly cruise missiles.
On December 19, 2025, L3Harris Technologies reported that the U.S. Marine Corps had conducted a successful low-altitude live-fire trial of the Red Wolf launched-effects vehicle over the Atlantic Test Range, engaging a sea target from an AH-1Z Viper as part of the Corps’ Long Range Attack Missile (LRAM) effort. This latest event, highlighted by L3Harris, is framed within the wider U.S. push for “affordable mass”, large numbers of networked, comparatively low-cost precision weapons to complement existing high-end cruise missiles. The demonstration is particularly relevant because it shows a U.S. Marine attack helicopter launching a mini-cruise-missile-class weapon at long range while remaining below the radar horizon, and because Red Wolf also acted as a node in the targeting network rather than a simple one-shot effector. For the Marine Corps and the wider U.S. joint force, this marks a concrete step towards making stand-off maritime strike and distributed operations more resilient and more economical in a potential high-intensity conflict.
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The U.S. Marine Corps has successfully tested L3Harris Technologies Red Wolf from an AH-1Z Viper, demonstrating a low-altitude, below-radar-horizon launch that engaged a target at long range with a cruise-missile-class weapon (Picture Source: L3Harris Technologies)
Red Wolf sits at the heart of L3Harris’ “wolf pack” family of launched-effects vehicles, which also includes the Green Wolf electronic-warfare variant. The family is designed as a set of modular, mini cruise missiles that can be fired from air, ground or maritime platforms and then collaborate in flight to sense, jam, deceive and strike targets on land or at sea. Red Wolf itself is the kinetic element of this pack: a high-subsonic, long-range precision strike weapon with a quoted range of more than 200 nautical miles and, in some descriptions, up to 375 km depending on profile. Its architecture is built around fold-out wings and fins for stability, a cruise engine for sustained flight and a modular payload section able to accept different warhead types and seeker combinations, including GPS, infrared and radio-frequency guidance for both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight engagements. At software level, the wolf pack concept emphasises in-flight retargeting, machine-to-machine collaboration and swarming behaviour, with options for parachute recovery and refurbishment when the mission profile allows, aiming to balance performance and cost over the life cycle.
The September 2025 firing over the Atlantic Test Range is the latest milestone in a development path that has become increasingly visible over the last two years. L3Harris and Marine aviation first drew attention in November 2024, when an AH-1Z at Yuma Proving Ground launched an unidentified long-range munition under the Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) effort, later acknowledged as Red Wolf and tied to the Precision Attack Strike Munition (PASM) programme of record. Since then, the company has accumulated around 45 tests and demonstrations by early October 2025 and more than 50 live firings across air and surface launchers for multiple Department of War customers, with Armada International reporting a maturity level compatible with initial operational fielding around 2026.
The Atlantic trial differs from previous demonstrations by combining very low-altitude helicopter employment, a live engagement of a sea-based target and full integration into a networked targeting architecture, all controlled via a tablet-based interface, a first for a Marine Corps rotary-wing platform. This progression illustrates a development approach based on rapid prototyping, frequent live tests and iterative configuration changes rather than a long, linear engineering cycle.
From a tactical standpoint, the Red Wolf demonstration significantly changes what an AH-1Z Viper can do in a maritime or littoral scenario. Traditional helicopter-launched missiles such as Hellfire or even the more recent JAGM give crews engagement distances on the order of tens of kilometres; by contrast, a high-subsonic missile able to fly more than 200 nautical miles allows the aircraft to remain well outside the engagement envelopes of modern shipborne surface-to-air systems and coastal anti-access/area-denial networks. Operating at low altitude, a Viper could launch Red Wolf from behind islands or from dispersed expeditionary bases, using off-board sensors and a cooperative targeting network to cue the weapon onto a ship, radar site or coastal battery.
The modular “wolf pack” approach further widens the playbook: Green Wolf electronic-warfare rounds can jam or deceive enemy radars and communications, while additional Red Wolfs attack critical nodes such as sensor masts or command facilities, creating windows of vulnerability for follow-on salvos of larger weapons like LRASM or Joint Strike Missile. For the Marines, who are developing stand-in forces concept and Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), a networked, recoverable, multi-platform effector of this type offers a way to deliver repeated, precise strikes from small, austere locations without exposing high-value platforms to direct fire.
Red Wolf speaks to a broader U.S. response to the problem of munitions stockpiles and industrial capacity in a potential protracted conflict against a peer adversary, notably in the Indo-Pacific. Traditional long-range cruise missiles such as JASSM-ER or Tomahawk deliver very high performance but are expensive and available in limited numbers; recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have underscored how quickly such inventories can be drawn down. L3Harris and several independent analyses indicate that Wolf-family munitions are being positioned at a target price of roughly 300,000 U.S. dollars per unit once in volume production, with a production objective on the order of 1,000 missiles per year – similar in unit cost to a much shorter-range JAGM, but with stand-off reach measured in hundreds of kilometres.
The cost-per-effect profile of Red Wolf directly supports the Pentagon’s “affordable mass” narrative, in which large salvos of smaller, networked weapons saturate defences and complicate adversary planning, while higher-end cruise missiles and hypersonic systems are reserved for the most demanding targets. At the same time, Armada International notes that the Wolf Pack production line in Ashburn, Virginia, is already sized to deliver up to 1,000 systems annually, even though no large-scale production contract for Red Wolf and Green Wolf has yet been publicly announced that is comparable to long-established missile families. For industry, this positions L3Harris as a challenger to incumbent missile primes, and for the Marine Corps it offers leverage in future budget negotiations by promising a relatively low-cost way to extend the reach of existing aircraft and surface platforms.
The September live-fire and its December disclosure mark more than just another weapon test: they signal the transition of Red Wolf from an experimental long-range round hanging under a single AH-1Z at Yuma to a maturing family of launched-effects vehicles integrated into real Marine Corps tactics, networks and platforms. By combining long-range precision, multi-domain launch options, collaborative software and a price point designed for mass production, the wolf pack concept aims to give U.S. forces a tool that can be bought and used in the quantities implied by contemporary war-fighting scenarios rather than just in limited numbers for crisis contingencies. Whether the Pentagon ultimately follows through with large-scale procurement under PASM, LRAM or related programmes, the latest test shows that the technological and operational foundations for such a capability are now in place, and that rotary-wing aviation, traditionally associated with close support at short range, is being quietly rewritten as a contributor to deep, networked strike in contested environments.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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The U.S. Marine Corps has successfully test-fired the Red Wolf launched-effects vehicle from an AH-1Z Viper helicopter during a low-altitude trial over the Atlantic Test Range, according to L3Harris Technologies. The event underscores a growing Pentagon emphasis on affordable, networked long-range weapons that can complicate enemy defenses without relying solely on costly cruise missiles.
On December 19, 2025, L3Harris Technologies reported that the U.S. Marine Corps had conducted a successful low-altitude live-fire trial of the Red Wolf launched-effects vehicle over the Atlantic Test Range, engaging a sea target from an AH-1Z Viper as part of the Corps’ Long Range Attack Missile (LRAM) effort. This latest event, highlighted by L3Harris, is framed within the wider U.S. push for “affordable mass”, large numbers of networked, comparatively low-cost precision weapons to complement existing high-end cruise missiles. The demonstration is particularly relevant because it shows a U.S. Marine attack helicopter launching a mini-cruise-missile-class weapon at long range while remaining below the radar horizon, and because Red Wolf also acted as a node in the targeting network rather than a simple one-shot effector. For the Marine Corps and the wider U.S. joint force, this marks a concrete step towards making stand-off maritime strike and distributed operations more resilient and more economical in a potential high-intensity conflict.
The U.S. Marine Corps has successfully tested L3Harris Technologies Red Wolf from an AH-1Z Viper, demonstrating a low-altitude, below-radar-horizon launch that engaged a target at long range with a cruise-missile-class weapon (Picture Source: L3Harris Technologies)
Red Wolf sits at the heart of L3Harris’ “wolf pack” family of launched-effects vehicles, which also includes the Green Wolf electronic-warfare variant. The family is designed as a set of modular, mini cruise missiles that can be fired from air, ground or maritime platforms and then collaborate in flight to sense, jam, deceive and strike targets on land or at sea. Red Wolf itself is the kinetic element of this pack: a high-subsonic, long-range precision strike weapon with a quoted range of more than 200 nautical miles and, in some descriptions, up to 375 km depending on profile. Its architecture is built around fold-out wings and fins for stability, a cruise engine for sustained flight and a modular payload section able to accept different warhead types and seeker combinations, including GPS, infrared and radio-frequency guidance for both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight engagements. At software level, the wolf pack concept emphasises in-flight retargeting, machine-to-machine collaboration and swarming behaviour, with options for parachute recovery and refurbishment when the mission profile allows, aiming to balance performance and cost over the life cycle.
The September 2025 firing over the Atlantic Test Range is the latest milestone in a development path that has become increasingly visible over the last two years. L3Harris and Marine aviation first drew attention in November 2024, when an AH-1Z at Yuma Proving Ground launched an unidentified long-range munition under the Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) effort, later acknowledged as Red Wolf and tied to the Precision Attack Strike Munition (PASM) programme of record. Since then, the company has accumulated around 45 tests and demonstrations by early October 2025 and more than 50 live firings across air and surface launchers for multiple Department of War customers, with Armada International reporting a maturity level compatible with initial operational fielding around 2026.
The Atlantic trial differs from previous demonstrations by combining very low-altitude helicopter employment, a live engagement of a sea-based target and full integration into a networked targeting architecture, all controlled via a tablet-based interface, a first for a Marine Corps rotary-wing platform. This progression illustrates a development approach based on rapid prototyping, frequent live tests and iterative configuration changes rather than a long, linear engineering cycle.
From a tactical standpoint, the Red Wolf demonstration significantly changes what an AH-1Z Viper can do in a maritime or littoral scenario. Traditional helicopter-launched missiles such as Hellfire or even the more recent JAGM give crews engagement distances on the order of tens of kilometres; by contrast, a high-subsonic missile able to fly more than 200 nautical miles allows the aircraft to remain well outside the engagement envelopes of modern shipborne surface-to-air systems and coastal anti-access/area-denial networks. Operating at low altitude, a Viper could launch Red Wolf from behind islands or from dispersed expeditionary bases, using off-board sensors and a cooperative targeting network to cue the weapon onto a ship, radar site or coastal battery.
The modular “wolf pack” approach further widens the playbook: Green Wolf electronic-warfare rounds can jam or deceive enemy radars and communications, while additional Red Wolfs attack critical nodes such as sensor masts or command facilities, creating windows of vulnerability for follow-on salvos of larger weapons like LRASM or Joint Strike Missile. For the Marines, who are developing stand-in forces concept and Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), a networked, recoverable, multi-platform effector of this type offers a way to deliver repeated, precise strikes from small, austere locations without exposing high-value platforms to direct fire.
Red Wolf speaks to a broader U.S. response to the problem of munitions stockpiles and industrial capacity in a potential protracted conflict against a peer adversary, notably in the Indo-Pacific. Traditional long-range cruise missiles such as JASSM-ER or Tomahawk deliver very high performance but are expensive and available in limited numbers; recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have underscored how quickly such inventories can be drawn down. L3Harris and several independent analyses indicate that Wolf-family munitions are being positioned at a target price of roughly 300,000 U.S. dollars per unit once in volume production, with a production objective on the order of 1,000 missiles per year – similar in unit cost to a much shorter-range JAGM, but with stand-off reach measured in hundreds of kilometres.
The cost-per-effect profile of Red Wolf directly supports the Pentagon’s “affordable mass” narrative, in which large salvos of smaller, networked weapons saturate defences and complicate adversary planning, while higher-end cruise missiles and hypersonic systems are reserved for the most demanding targets. At the same time, Armada International notes that the Wolf Pack production line in Ashburn, Virginia, is already sized to deliver up to 1,000 systems annually, even though no large-scale production contract for Red Wolf and Green Wolf has yet been publicly announced that is comparable to long-established missile families. For industry, this positions L3Harris as a challenger to incumbent missile primes, and for the Marine Corps it offers leverage in future budget negotiations by promising a relatively low-cost way to extend the reach of existing aircraft and surface platforms.
The September live-fire and its December disclosure mark more than just another weapon test: they signal the transition of Red Wolf from an experimental long-range round hanging under a single AH-1Z at Yuma to a maturing family of launched-effects vehicles integrated into real Marine Corps tactics, networks and platforms. By combining long-range precision, multi-domain launch options, collaborative software and a price point designed for mass production, the wolf pack concept aims to give U.S. forces a tool that can be bought and used in the quantities implied by contemporary war-fighting scenarios rather than just in limited numbers for crisis contingencies. Whether the Pentagon ultimately follows through with large-scale procurement under PASM, LRAM or related programmes, the latest test shows that the technological and operational foundations for such a capability are now in place, and that rotary-wing aviation, traditionally associated with close support at short range, is being quietly rewritten as a contributor to deep, networked strike in contested environments.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
