Beforehand unknown munitions seen loaded on the stub wings of a U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter in an image launched earlier this yr have been recognized. They’re members of L3Harris’ modular Pink Wolf household of ‘launched results,’ which may be configured as weapons, in addition to for non-kinetic roles, together with as communication relay nodes. At current, the Marines primarily see Pink Wolf as a path to giving its AH-1Zs an all-new standoff strike capability towards targets on land and at sea that would assist make sure the relevance of the helicopters in future high-end fights.
Marine Col. Scott Shadforth named Pink Wolf because the munition his service is now working underneath its Lengthy Vary Assault Missile (LRAM) undertaking throughout a presentation on the annual Modern Day Marine exposition earlier right this moment, at which TWZ was in attendance. Shadforth is presently head of Naval Air Techniques Command’s (NAVAIR) Expeditionary and Maritime Aviation-Superior Growth Group (XMA-ADT). He additionally offered extra particulars about LRAM, which he described as a “protection innovator accelerator” effort feeding into a bigger program of file known as the Precision Assault Strike Missile (PASM).
In February, NAVAIR released the aforementioned image of the Pink Wolf-toting AH-1Z, seen on the high of this story and beneath, at which period the munitions had been recognized solely as “a brand new Lengthy Vary Precision Hearth (LRPF) functionality.” L3Harris had additionally quietly recognized Pink Wolf instantly because the munition seen within the image in a release earlier this month. A Marine AH-1Z has carried out at the least one profitable check launch of a Pink Wolf.
“So, the present [LRAM] effort that ADT is engaged on proper now could be primarily based on L3Harris’ Pink Wolf,” Shadforth mentioned at Fashionable Day Marine in direct response to a query from TWZ‘s Howard Altman. “So usually talking, range-wise, you’re low triple-digit vary capability on it and double-digit time of flight.”
Shadforth didn’t specify any items of measure, however the Marines have talked a couple of most vary of at the least 150 nautical miles (simply over 170 miles or practically 278 kilometers) for LRAM/PASM prior to now. Assuming “double-digit time of flight” right here is measured in minutes, this may imply Pink Wolf has a subsonic cruising velocity.
Different particulars in regards to the Pink Wolf household, and the precise model that the Marines are experimenting with now, stay restricted. Pink Wolf was initially developed in secret for the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Workplace (SCO), and it first emerged publicly on the U.S. Military’s Experimentation Demonstration Gateway Event in 2021 (EDGE 21). Aviation Week reported at the time that the Pink Wolf demonstrated at EDGE 21 was a six-foot-long design powered by an unspecified German-made turbojet and able to being launched by an MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone, however no photos had been launched.
Nevertheless, “for consciousness, we’ve got a number of derivatives of the baseline which have flown and supply for quite a lot of ranges, payloads and capabilities,” L3Harris advised TWZ in Febraury when requested for extra particulars about what was seen within the image NAVAIR had launched. “For consciousness, L3Harris has developed a household of merchandise to deal with long-range precision hearth necessities for manned and unmanned platforms that can deal with quite a lot of buyer calls for.”
At the moment, the corporate had declined to call what it had equipped to the Marine Corps. The XMA-ADT has additionally drawn a connection between LRAM and an unspecified Air Force munition prior to now, however Col. Shadforth mentioned right this moment he was personally unaware of that.
“A very powerful side is that we’re now giving VTOL [vertical takeoff and landing] platforms vital standoff [capability] that they’ve by no means had earlier than, having the ability to ship precision fires kind of over the horizon,” Col. Shadforth mentioned right this moment.
As TWZ has famous in earlier reporting on LRAM/PASM, a munition with a most vary of round 170 miles would dramatically prolong the attain of Marine AH-1s. The missiles accessible to these helicopters now, AGM-114 Hellfires and AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM), have most ranges of underneath 10 miles. Hellfires and JAGMs with tripled and doubled ranges, respectively, have been examined, however that also falls far wanting what the Marines are aiming for with LRAM/PASM.
Shadforth additionally highlighted broader implications of the LRAM effort and the follow-on PASM program of file, together with using one thing like Pink Wolf in roles past that of an air-launched munition. Apparently, the Pink Wolf demonstrated at EDGE 21 was employed not as a munition, however as a sign relay, in line with Aviation Week.
“The chance that LRAM supplies is the modularity that may include it. So kinetic [and] non-kinetic capabilities,” Shadforth mentioned. “After which we are able to actually get into an open debate of, is it a weapon? Is it an air-launched impact? Is it a UAS [uncrewed aerial system; drone]? How are we defining these capabilities?”
Lately, the Marine Corps has already been experimenting with handing off control of long-range loitering munitions between aerial platforms, in addition to forces at sea and on the bottom, to prosecute targets at prolonged ranges. Pink Wolf ‘launched results’ configured as communications relay nodes may assist additional prolong connectivity for Marine forces, together with into extra contested environments, and with out placing a crewed platform at higher danger. They may additionally present different non-kinetic results like digital warfare jamming.
“Having the ability to apply that functionality, not essentially having to interrupt into the arduous construction of the air automobile, however placing all of it on pill, and controlling being tablet-based means,” is one other vital side of the LRAM effort, in line with Shadforth. In February, NAVAIR had noted the use of the Marine Air-Ground Tablet (MAGTAB) as a part of the testing of the then-unidentified munitions on the AH-1Z.
The usage of a MAGTAB-based management system, in flip, may open pathways to extra speedy integration of extra munitions and different capabilities onto the AH-1 and different Marine plane. Pill-based management techniques have been used in Ukraine to assist add Western precision munitions to the arsenals of that country’s Soviet-era combat jets. They’ve additionally been employed in Turkey as a part of the combination of locally developed weapons onto U.S.-made F-16 Viper fighters.
Total, what we find out about LRAM/PASM continues to align with what Marine Col. Nathan Marvel advised TWZ in an interview back in 2023, the place he laid out a case for the continued relevance of the AH-1Z, in addition to the UH-1Y, particularly within the context of a possible future main battle towards China within the Pacific. At the moment, Marvel was in control of Marine Plane Group 39 (MAG-39) primarily based at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton in California. He went on to grow to be head of the Speedy Capabilities Workplace and Science and Expertise Directorate throughout the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL).
“I used to be a bit pissed off in regards to the dialog they had been having about what the following battle appears to be like like. It was a couple of battle with a peer competitor and the distances we had over water with China and that H-1s weren’t going to be there,” Marvel mentioned in 2023. “I used to be like sure they’re. Not solely are we going to be there however we’re going to be proper beside the Marines within the subject as a result of that’s what we do.”
“Coming again to that interoperability, it’s a number of pathways and a number of waveforms. I don’t assume we are saying kill chains anymore, as a result of it’s not a linkage of nodes, it’s a linkage of webs,” he added. “We could very effectively be an enabler the place you’re pushing information via us through voice and or information and we could very effectively be the top of that kill internet or that kill chain enabler as effectively. We could inform somebody the place one thing is to allow them to go kill it or we preserve custody or somebody could inform us the place one thing is so we are able to go kill it like we’ve got historically completed. Interoperability is a big focus for us.”
“We’re going to have the ability to carry a Potpourri of weapons. It might not be unheard of to hang some exquisite fixed-wing fighter weapons on the wing-stub of a cobra and convey that to a battle,” Marvel continued. “It could be a loitering weapon or possibly an beautiful pod that does solely sure issues that we’re used to seeing on fixed-wing plane and convey that to the battle and put that down on the rotor wing degree to allow the battlespace commander and the maneuver factor commander to do issues that they might or could not have thought they might do earlier than. In order that’s sort of the place we’re with capabilities buildup.”
Whether or not or not Pink Wolf is what the Marines in the end decide for the PASM program of file stays to be seen.
“Proper now, we’re centered on the Pink Wolf as a part of the [LRAM] undertaking that we’re engaged on proper now. Nevertheless, we’re very open-minded and at all times hold our ears to the bottom to anything that may be a viable answer down the highway,” Col. Shadforth famous right this moment.
Lengthy-range ‘launched effects’ and small cruise missiles are a rapidly expanding and often overlapping area of weapons improvement, and there are more likely to be a rising array of choices that may additionally meet the Marines’ PASM wants.
Within the meantime, L3Harris’ Pink Wolf is at the least serving to the Marines lay the groundwork for integrating an vital new standoff strike weapon onto its AH-1Zs, and one that would open the door to extra capabilities down the road.
Howard Altman contributed to this story.
Contact the creator: joe@twz.com
