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U.S. L3Harris Arms Sky Warden Aircraft with Red Wolf Cruise Missile for Long-Range Standoff Strikes.
L3Harris on 9 February 2026 outlined a new integration concept pairing its Red Wolf launched effects vehicle with the Sky Warden aircraft. The approach aims to give U.S. and partner forces a rapidly reconfigurable mix of strike, electronic warfare, and ISR capabilities without fielding new aircraft fleets.
On 9 February 2026, L3Harris detailed a new integration concept pairing its Red Wolf-launched effects vehicle with the Sky Warden aircraft. The move targets a fast-evolving mission mix where kinetic strike, electronic warfare and ISR must be reconfigured quickly without changing fleets. By combining a low-footprint crewed platform with a standoff-launched effect, L3Harris is positioning a modular “mix-and-match” approach for dispersed operations.
L3Harris has unveiled a concept integrating its Red Wolf-launched effects vehicle with the Sky Warden aircraft to create a modular, rapidly reconfigurable platform for strike, electronic warfare, and ISR missions in austere environments (Picture Source: L3Harris Technologies)
The development centers on demonstrating that Red Wolf can be integrated onto Sky Warden with minimal friction, underscoring the modularity and “open standards-based” approach L3Harris says it is applying across mission systems to answer rapidly changing customer requirements. In practical terms, the concept is meant to let operators shift between armed ISR, electronic attack support and precision strike tasking while keeping the same basic aircraft and integration pathways, reducing the time needed to field new payloads or effects.
Sky Warden itself is presented by L3Harris as a short takeoff and landing, austere-capable aircraft built on the Air Tractor AT-802U/802U baseline, optimized to operate close to the ground forces it supports. The company highlights endurance and payload as core attributes, including a stated six-hour loiter at a 200 nautical mile combat radius and a flexible combat load-out of up to 6,000 pounds, alongside a communications suite designed to support both line-of-sight and beyond line-of-sight connectivity. In parallel, L3Harris links the Sky Warden family to U.S. Special Operations Command’s OA-1K Skyraider II effort, framing the aircraft as a “collapse the stack” enabler intended to consolidate missions that otherwise require multiple platforms.
Red Wolf is positioned as the kinetic member of L3Harris’ launched-effects family, described as a multi-domain vehicle for long-range precision strike, with extended loiter and standoff engagement, and a sibling variant (Green Wolf) oriented toward electronic warfare. In a separate January 2026 press release, L3Harris states Red Wolf has been selected by U.S. Naval Air Systems Command for the Marine Corps Precision Attack Strike Munition program, and that the weapon has demonstrated a “proven” reach of 200 nautical miles, along with beyond line-of-sight communications and autonomous over-the-horizon engagements.
On operational history, L3Harris ties the system’s maturity to a test and demonstration pathway, citing 52 launched-effects vehicle flights and a low-altitude test firing from a USMC AH-1Z helicopter in late 2025 as milestones that helped pave the way toward the PASM program decision. The company also states it fielded Red Wolf systems through the Long-Range Advanced Missile program under the Defense Innovation Acceleration program, using operational demonstrations to validate requirements and accelerate adoption.
Integrating a standoff launched effect onto a low-cost-per-hour, small-footprint aircraft is aimed at widening commanders’ options in contested environments where traditional CAS and ISR aircraft may face elevated risk, limited access, or insufficient magazine depth. The pairing implies a concept where Sky Warden can remain closer to austere forward areas for persistence, sensor coverage and networking, while Red Wolf extends reach for time-sensitive strikes or distributed engagements, potentially allowing a single aircraft to alternate between sensing, relaying and delivering effects rather than depending on separate specialized assets.
Strategically, the announcement signals continued industry and customer interest in “open” modular architectures that can absorb new payloads and effects faster than platform replacement cycles, particularly as forces seek scalable responses to mass-produced drones and other low-cost threats without relying exclusively on expensive munitions. If adopted widely, the Red Wolf–Sky Warden model supports a broader shift toward disaggregated airpower, more aircraft operating from more locations with adaptable mission kits, while also shaping procurement toward reusable integration standards that can speed coalition interoperability and incremental upgrades.
L3Harris’ Red Wolf integration concept on the Sky Warden aircraft highlights a direction of travel in air combat support: pairing austere, persistent crewed platforms with networked launched effects to stretch range, complicate adversary defense planning and compress reconfiguration timelines. As programs like the USMC’s Precision Attack Strike Munition move forward and modular mission systems mature, the operational advantage increasingly rests on how quickly forces can combine sensing, connectivity, electronic effects and precision strike into mission-ready packages, without waiting for the next aircraft generation.