Farnborough 2026: Raytheon UK unveils Red Kite guided glide weapon

Raytheon UK's Red Kite guided air-to-surface glide weapon, unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow 2026. (Raytheon)

Raytheon UK, part of RTX's Raytheon business, unveiled a new UK-designed guided air-to-surface glide weapon called Red Kite at the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, held from 20-24 July.

Red Kite uses the airframe of Raytheon's StormBreaker guided air-to-surface glide weapon, so will likely be similar in length to StormBreaker's 1.76 m. Raytheon described Red Kite as a 250 lb (113 kg)-class weapon, similar to StormBreaker's 93 kg weight. The weapon's mid-section will house its warhead. If it were converted from a glide weapon to include an engine, that would come at the expense of warhead size, Rory Hederman, associate director, requirements and capabilities at Raytheon UK told Janes during a media briefing on 14 July.

Focusing on lower cost than legacy surface-to-air systems, Red Kite will not share StormBreaker's millimetre-wave radar. It will use global positioning system (GPS: a type of global navigation satellite services: GNSS) and inertial navigation, “to deliver an affordable capability.” Raytheon added to Janes that Red Kite has an extended strike range of more than 40 miles (64 km).

The company said it intends Red Kite to be procured in large numbers and stockpiled, and wants to keep production lines warm for ‘always on' production readiness. Digital twinning was used to help design it. Raytheon said software developed in the digital twin was used in the weapon. This allows for software updates within hours, said Richard Gates, the head of Raytheon UK's weapons mission business area. Much of the software onboard is non-proprietary, said Gates, as Raytheon UK did not want this system to present a risk of vendor lock-in.