Marine AH-1Z Attack Helicopter’s Mystery Missiles Identified
The modular Red Wolf launched effects weapon could give Marine AH-1Zs a key new standoff strike tool and open the door to other capabilities.
Joseph Trevithick
Published May 1, 2025 7:36 PM EDT
Previously unknown munitions seen loaded on the stub wings of a U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter in a picture released earlier this year have been identified. They are members of L3Harris’ modular Red Wolf family of ‘launched effects,’ which can be configured as weapons, as well as for non-kinetic roles, including as communication relay nodes. At present, the Marines primarily see Red Wolf as a path to giving its AH-1Zs an all-new standoff strike capability against targets on land and at sea that could help ensure the relevance of the helicopters in future high-end fights.
Marine Col. Scott Shadforth named Red Wolf as the munition his service is now working under its Long Range Attack Missile (LRAM) project during a presentation at the annual Modern Day Marine exposition earlier today, at which TWZ was in attendance. Shadforth is currently head of Naval Air Systems Command’s (NAVAIR) Expeditionary and Maritime Aviation-Advanced Development Team (XMA-ADT). He also provided additional details about LRAM, which he described as a “defense innovator accelerator” effort feeding into a larger program of record called the Precision Attack Strike Missile (PASM).
In February, NAVAIR released the aforementioned image of the Red Wolf-toting AH-1Z, seen at the top of this story and below, at which time the munitions were identified only as “a new Long Range Precision Fire (LRPF) capability.” L3Harris had also quietly identified Red Wolf directly as the munition seen in the picture in a release earlier this month. A Marine AH-1Z has conducted at least one successful test launch of a Red Wolf.
https://www.twz.com/air/marine-ah-1z-attack-helicopters-mystery-missiles-identified
