The Marine Corps is steadily growing its arsenal of long-range weapons with a Pacific fight in mind. On Jan. 30, the service selected a “launched effect” from L3Harris called Red Wolf that can be deployed from AH-1Z Viper helicopters and hit a target over 230 miles away.
Put another way, Marine attack helicopters will soon be able to reach out and touch something 3,373 football fields away (with a missile).
This gives Marines, who continue to push 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 also follows a trend of the Pentagon seeking out cheaper (relatively speaking) but still capable options to deal with the serious threat from drones, like the Shahed-136, which evidence suggests costs under $50,000.
Red Wolf and launched effects
Red Wolf may look like many other air-launched cruise missiles, but it is actually in a group called “launched effects.” That is a buzzphrase that covers small unmanned aerial vehicles that do more than explode on something.
In the requirements given to the potential manufacturers, the Pentagon said it needed to be aircraft agnostic, so it could be used on other platforms; network-enabled, in order to receive updates on targeting and missions mid-flight; and have stand-off range, so it could hit targets much further out. They also wanted the ability to hit land and sea-based objects, because when your wish list is that long, why not add one more to it, right?
The requirements also stipulated that they use Weapons Open Systems Architecture to allow for different payloads up to 25 pounds. This is where launched effects come into play. Kinetic payloads, like high explosives, are just one mission these vehicles can do. They are also capable of electronic warfare, operating as a decoy, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and serving as a communication relay.
Marines are preparing for a fight in the Pacific, where they will be more spread out and further away from safe havens than they have been since World War II. China also has an arsenal of long-range weapons and a growing navy, meaning few places will be safe in the region if shooting starts.
What we’ve seen with the 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 from far away without calling the Navy or Air Force is a priority.
Giving a helicopter the ability to hit a target at extreme ranges (for a helicopter) is a big boost if your entire plan is built around having your forces far afield and on their own. Helicopters can be kept closer to the more exposed areas in the Indo-Pacific and kept going with Forward Arming and Refueling Points, or FARPs. That isn’t just a fun word to say; it’s also a vital capability that allows things like close-air support and medical evacuation missions to reach the troops who need it most.
Comparable Munitions
Helicopters, due to their flight ceilings, lightweight requirements, and speed, are typically limited in long-range options.
In testing, including being launched from the AH-1Z Viper, Red Wolf hit ranges of over 200 nautical miles, or 230 miles. The second-longest range weapon after that is the Spike NLOS. This is a similar weapon that the Army has tested from the AH-64 Apache, and it reaches about 17 miles.
The more common munitions like the AGM-179 JAGM-MR and AGM-114 Hellfire II have ranges of roughly 10 miles and five miles, respectively. At those distances, even for the Spike NLOS, you are well within the red ring of death of many air defense systems, including some shoulder-launched MANPADS whose ranges can extend to six miles.
Changing Priorities
The selection of Red Wolf is further evidence of a sea change that’s no longer coming, but fully underway. The spread of small, cheap drones and other weapons means that taking out these threats has largely fallen to expensive, but incredibly capable missiles.
During the Red Sea fight between Oct. 19, 2023, and Jan. 19, 2025, the Navy fired nearly 400 munitions to protect itself and commercial shipping from Houthi drones and missiles. That includes 120 SM-2 missiles at $2.5 million each, 80 SM-6 missiles for $4.3 million each, and a combined total of 20 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) and SM-3 missiles, at $1.8 million and $28.7 million per unit, respectively.
To help mitigate magazine depth and cost concerns, the Pentagon is focusing more on weapons like Red Wolf, which can be used for some of the same missions as those high-precision interceptors, but without costing as much.
In fact, this whole “do as much, but pay less” approach has spread to other weapons, like the Hellfire II, which was modified to counter unmanned aerial systems in the Red Sea, and they’ve even been spotted in Ukraine on board the V2X Tempest buggy, which the Marine Corps is now buying.
On our YouTube Channel, we get deeper into this and why this isn’t as easy as it sounds. Check that out here.
