L3Harris Technologies and the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) have announced a major milestone in the U.S. Marine Corps’ quest to equip its rotary-wing aviation with long-range, affordable precision strike weapons. On Jan. 30, 2026, NAVAIR awarded L3Harris an $86.2 million contract under the Precision Attack Strike Munition (PASM) program to develop, test, and manufacture the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle.
The award marks the transition of Red Wolf from an extended experimentation and demonstration phase into a more formal acquisition pathway, signaling growing confidence within the Pentagon that the system can meet operational demands in contested maritime and littoral environments. Designed primarily for deployment from the Marine Corps’ AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter, Red Wolf is intended to give Marine aviators the ability to strike surface targets at ranges far beyond those of legacy helicopter-launched munitions.
According to L3Harris and NAVAIR, the missile will provide Marine rotary-wing platforms with long-range precision strike capability while enabling what officials describe as “affordable combat mass” for surface strikes, particularly in maritime scenarios where distributed forces must operate inside an adversary’s weapons engagement zone.
Under the terms of the contract, L3Harris will deliver Red Wolf missiles along with all associated technical manuals, training packages, support equipment, and test equipment required to integrate and sustain the system on the AH-1Z Viper. The aircraft has been the missile’s primary carrier platform throughout years of testing and demonstrations.
Deliveries are scheduled to be completed by late fiscal year 2027. While the total contract value has been disclosed, the number of missiles to be produced under the award has not been made public, a common practice for programs still transitioning from prototype to early production.
NAVAIR also noted that the award was executed using an Other Transaction Authority (OTA), a contracting mechanism increasingly favored by the Department of Defense to accelerate innovation. The Direct and Time Sensitive Strike Weapons program office (PMA-242), which manages PASM, said the OTA approach was selected specifically “to streamline research and development and prototype development.”
This contracting pathway allows the government and industry to bypass some of the more rigid requirements of traditional Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)-based contracts, enabling faster iteration and fielding—an approach seen as essential for keeping pace with rapidly evolving threats.
L3Harris has stated that the Red Wolf and its companion variant, Green Wolf, have undergone extensive live-fire testing. As of early 2026, the company says the systems have completed a total of 52 test fires across multiple test campaigns. However, it has not broken down how many firings were conducted for each variant.
These tests were conducted as part of a Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD), a framework used by the Department of Defense to mature promising technologies in operationally relevant conditions before committing to a program of record. According to the Marine Corps and L3Harris, the JCTD phase was instrumental in validating PASM’s ability to enable low-altitude rotary-wing aircraft to conduct offensive anti-surface warfare and maritime strike missions.
The demonstrations ultimately informed the requirements and scope of the latest production and support contract.
Capt. Lindsey Buzzell, PMA-242’s program manager, described the OTA contract as “a key part of this strategy,” emphasizing that it is designed to “rapidly prototype and field a capability that’s essential for operations in contested environments and against advanced adversaries.”
Alongside the contract announcement, L3Harris and NAVAIR released a new image showing two PASM missiles mounted under the stub wings of an AH-1Z Viper assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21. The image provides one of the clearest views yet of the missile’s configuration in an operational test setting.
According to details published on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), the photograph was taken on Sept. 9, 2025, and released publicly on Feb. 2, 2026. The caption notes that the image pertains to a test conducted in late 2025 off the coast of Virginia.
Industry observers believe this test was likely part of a “low-altitude test firing” that L3Harris announced on Dec. 19, 2025. At the time, the company said the test occurred in September 2025 but did not provide imagery or detailed technical data.
The newly released photograph captures the missiles from a closer, front-facing angle than previously available images, offering valuable insight into design features that had previously been obscured or speculative.
L3Harris Chairman and CEO Christopher Kubasik framed the Red Wolf’s importance in the context of recent global conflicts and evolving air defense threats. He said the system fills a “gap in modern warfare with long-range precision weapons capabilities,” a gap made more apparent by “recent conflicts and incursions over NATO airspace, particularly with the increased use of mass-produced drones.”
Kubasik argued that these developments underscore the “urgent need for cost-effective alternatives to exquisite munitions,” referring to highly capable but expensive weapons that are difficult to deploy in large numbers. In contrast, Red Wolf is intended to provide “affordable mass” that can overwhelm defenses, complicate enemy decision-making, and preserve higher-end munitions for the most critical targets.
For the Marine Corps, this need has been long-standing. Attack helicopters such as the AH-1Z have traditionally relied on weapons like the AGM-114 Hellfire family and the AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM). While effective, these weapons are limited in range.
Extended-range Hellfire variants such as the AGM-114R-4 offer improved reach, but still fall well short of what Marine planners believe is necessary in a high-end maritime fight. The JAGM’s medium-range variant can reach approximately 21 miles, while its shorter-range configurations are closer to 10 miles.
By comparison, L3Harris claims that both Red Wolf and Green Wolf can achieve ranges in excess of 200 nautical miles at low altitudes, with an endurance of more than 60 minutes—figures that would represent a dramatic leap in capability for helicopter-launched weapons.
One of the most significant aspects of PASM is its ability to conduct beyond-line-of-sight engagements. L3Harris says the system’s communications architecture enables autonomous, over-the-horizon operations, allowing the missile to receive targeting updates or execute preplanned missions far beyond the launch aircraft’s sensor range.
“The system’s beyond line-of-sight communication and autonomous over-the-horizon engagements will dramatically increase the number of aircraft available for strike missions,” the company said in a statement.
NAVAIR echoed this assessment, describing the contract as “a critical component of the Marine Corps’ vision for enhancing the lethality and survivability of its rotary-wing assets.” By allowing helicopters to launch weapons from well outside the engagement envelopes of enemy air defenses and shipborne weapons, PASM could fundamentally alter how Marine aviation contributes to maritime operations.
Since 2025, NAVAIR’s public messaging around PASM has consistently emphasized the missile’s maritime strike role. Concept videos released by L3Harris depict Red Wolf being used against surface combatants, including scenarios involving the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
Rather than delivering a single, catastrophic kill, Red Wolf is envisioned as a weapon for conducting light but strategically significant disabling attacks. Targets could include sensor masts, radar arrays, communications systems, and other critical topside components. Such strikes could degrade a ship’s situational awareness and defensive capabilities, setting conditions for follow-on attacks by naval fighters, submarines, or surface combatants.
This concept aligns closely with the Marine Corps’ evolving doctrine, which emphasizes distributed operations, expeditionary advanced bases, and close integration with naval forces in the Indo-Pacific.
The PASM program builds on a series of Marine Corps exercises and demonstrations that have explored helicopter-based maritime strike. In recent years, AH-1Z Vipers have fired AGM-179 JAGM missiles at maritime targets during Indo-Pacific drills, showcasing the platform’s potential but also highlighting the limitations imposed by range and survivability.
According to NAVAIR, PASM offers a “cost-effective, longer-range, precision weapon” capable of delivering both “kinetic and non-kinetic effects” from AH-1Z aircraft operating in land-based and sea-based environments.
The inclusion of non-kinetic effects is particularly significant, reflecting the growing importance of electronic warfare in maritime conflict.
Red Wolf and Green Wolf together form what L3Harris refers to as the Long-Range Attack Missile (LRAM), the designated weapon system under the PASM Program of Record. While Red Wolf is oriented toward kinetic effects, Green Wolf is designed to deliver non-kinetic, electronic warfare payloads intended to disrupt or degrade enemy sensors and networks.
At the time of the September 2025 test, L3Harris said it had completed 45 test fires for “multiple DoD customers” and had significantly matured the design through iterative testing. The total has since risen to 52 firings, indicating continued refinement.
This extended testing campaign helps explain noticeable differences between early concept images and the missiles now seen in operational tests.
The newly released imagery offers fresh insight into how the PASM design has evolved. Earlier assessments suggested that a prominent protrusion on the missile’s underside was a ventral air intake. However, the latest images indicate that this feature is instead the hub for two fold-out wings, a configuration clearly shown in L3Harris’ official display units and graphic renderings.
Another notable difference lies in the tail configuration. L3Harris’ unveiled Red Wolf and Green Wolf models feature a plus-form tail, while the live missiles mounted under the AH-1Z in recent tests appear to have an X-form tail. Such changes are not unusual during development and often reflect refinements to aerodynamic stability, control authority, or manufacturing considerations.
The latest image also appears to confirm the presence of the shovel-like nose seen in earlier concepts, suggesting that this design element has been retained through the maturation process.
With the $86.2 million contract now in place, the PASM program appears poised to move from experimentation toward initial operational capability. While many details remain classified or undisclosed, the combination of extensive testing, formal acquisition funding, and integration on an operational platform suggests that Red Wolf is on track to become a key element of the Marine Corps’ future strike architecture.
As great-power competition increasingly shifts toward the maritime domain—particularly in the Indo-Pacific—the ability to project precision effects from distributed, survivable platforms will be central to U.S. strategy. For Marine Corps aviation, Red Wolf represents a significant step in that direction.
