L3Harris Debuts Red Wolf to Strengthen Affordable Swarm Strike Capability

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L3Harris Technologies has officially unveiled the Red Wolf-launched effects vehicle, marking a major step forward in delivering cost-effective, long-range precision strike capability. The new kinetic munition joins Green Wolf, its electronic warfare counterpart, forming what L3Harris calls a “wolf pack” of modular, multi-role long-range strike systems designed for air, sea, and land deployment.

Introduced on July 17, Red Wolf offers precision strike capability with a range exceeding 200 nautical miles and is engineered to strike moving targets such as ships. In contrast, Green Wolf specializes in electronic warfare, including jamming, signal detection, intelligence gathering, and battlefield awareness. Both munitions feature advanced in-flight retargeting, swarm coordination, and autonomy.

Built on a common modular platform, Red Wolf and Green Wolf are designed for maximum flexibility. The systems share a software foundation that enables them to operate in coordinated swarms, adapt mid-mission, and carry various payloads. Both platforms are also recoverable, adding an element of reusability that reduces long-term costs.With over 40 successful test flights completed, low-rate initial production is underway at L3Harris’s facility in Ashburn, Virginia. The Pentagon is reportedly considering procuring up to 1,000 units per year.

Red Wolf employs a kinetic warhead to deliver high-precision strikes, while Green Wolf’s payloads focus on disrupting or exploiting electronic threats. Both are optimized for swarm tactics and distributed lethality, an approach that emphasizes using many smaller, networked systems to overwhelm and outmaneuver enemy defenses. This model reflects lessons drawn from modern conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where agile, affordable munitions have often outperformed more expensive traditional assets.

One of the key strengths of Red Wolf and Green Wolf is their launch versatility. They can be deployed from a range of platforms, including helicopters such as the AH-1Z Viper, fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), ground vehicles, and even naval ships. This interoperability ensures they are suitable for use across all branches of the armed forces and in a variety of operational scenarios.

At an estimated cost of around $300,000 per unit at full production capacity, Red Wolf offers a competitive solution in the evolving long-range strike market. As the U.S. military shifts focus on peer-level conflict readiness, L3Harris’s wolf pack presents a scalable, cost-conscious, and technologically advanced option for the future of precision and electronic warfare.