The Marine Corps is constantly expanding its arsenal of long-range weapons with Pacific warfare in mind. On January 30, the service selected a “launched effect” from an L3Harris named Red Wolf that could be deployed from AH-1Z Viper helicopters and used against targets 230 miles away.
Put another way, Marine attack helicopters will be able to quickly reach and touch something 3,373 football fields away (with one missile).
This gives the Marines, moving forward with Force Design 2030, the ability to conduct over-the-horizon strikes from Vipers and other vertical take-off platforms. At an estimated cost of $300,000 to $500,000 a piece, it follows the Pentagon’s trend of looking for cheaper (relatively speaking) but still capable of dealing with a serious threat from drones, such as the Shahed-136, which evidence suggests costs less than $50,000.
Red Wolf and Launch Effects
The Red Wolf may look like many other air-launched cruise missiles, but it’s actually in a group called “launched effect.” That’s a buzzphrase that covers small unmanned aerial vehicles that do more than just blow something up.
In requirements given to potential manufacturers, the Pentagon said the aircraft needed to be agnostic, so it could be used on other platforms; Network-enabled, targeting and receiving updates on the fly between missions; And has a stand-off range, so it can hit targets far ahead. They also wanted the ability to hit land and sea-based objects, because when your wish list is so long, why not add one more to it, right?
The requirements also specify that the weapon use an open systems architecture to allow for various payloads up to 25 pounds. This is where launch effects come into play. Kinetic payloads, like high explosives, are just one mission these vehicles can perform. They are also capable of electronic warfare, operating as decoys, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and serving as communications relays.
Red Wolf Animation. Image via L3 Harris.
Marines are preparing for combat in the Pacific, where they will be spread out more from safe havens than during World War II. China also has long-range weapons and a growing naval arsenal, which means some places in the region will be safe if shooting starts.
What we’ve seen with Marine littoral regiments, where they have long-range weapons like the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), is that being able to hit targets remotely without calling in the Navy or Air Force is a priority.
Giving the helicopter the ability to hit targets at extreme ranges (for a helicopter) is a huge boost if your whole plan is to keep your forces far away and on their own. Helicopters can be positioned near the most exposed areas in the Indo-Pacific and operate with forward arming and refueling points, or FARPs. That’s not just a fun word to say; It’s also an essential capability that allows things like close-air support and medical evacuation missions to reach troops who need it most.
Red Wolf launched an effective vehicle. Image via L3 Harris.
Comparative Arms
Helicopters, due to their flight ceiling, light weight requirements, and speed, are generally limited to long-range options.
In testing, including being launched from an AH-1Z Viper, the Red Wolf hit a range of 200 nautical miles, or 230 miles. Then the second longest ranged weapon is the Spike NLOS. It’s a similar weapon that the Army has tested with the AH-64 Apache, and it has a range of about 17 miles.
Common weapons such as the AGM-179 JAGM-MR and AGM-114 Hellfire II have ranges of 10 miles and five miles, respectively. At those distances, even for spiked NLOS, you are within the red circle of death of most air defense systems, including some shoulder-launched MANPADS whose range can extend up to six miles.
Changing priorities
Red Wolf’s selection is further evidence of a sea change that is no longer coming, but is fully underway. The proliferation of small, cheap drones and other weapons means that eliminating these threats has largely fallen to expensive, but incredibly capable missiles.
During the Red Sea Battle between October 19, 2023 and January 19, 2025, the Navy fired nearly 400 missiles to protect itself and commercial shipping from Houthi drones and missiles. These include 120 SM-2 missiles at $2.5 million each, 80 SM-6 missiles at $4.3 million each, and 20 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) and SM-3 missiles at $1.8 million and $28.7 million per unit, respectively.
To help alleviate magazine depth and cost concerns, the Pentagon is focusing more on weapons like the Red Wolf, which can be used for some missions like those high-precision interceptors, but without much cost.
In fact, this whole “do more, but pay less” approach has spread to other weapons, such as the Hellfire II, which was modified to counter unmanned aerial systems in the Red Sea, and they are also seen in the V2X Tempest Buggy in Ukraine, which the Marine Corps is now buying.
On our YouTube channel, we delve into it and why it’s not as easy as it sounds. Check it out here.
