Raytheon UK has introduced the new Red Kite munition, described as the company’s first sovereign precision weapon fully designed and digitally engineered in the United Kingdom.
Raytheon UK has unveiled, during the second day of Farnborough International Airshow 2026, a new precision air-launched munition called Red Kite. The weapon is described as the company’s “first sovereign precision weapon fully designed and digitally engineered in the United Kingdom.”
Red Kite was developed in cooperation with a consortium of British defense partners, quickly moving from concept to prototype thanks to advanced digital modelling technologies. The goal is to manufacture an affordable, highly deployable precision weapon that will allow the UK to rapidly scale critical stockpiles.
“Red Kite was designed with affordability and adaptability in mind, and marks a significant step forward for UK defence,” said James Gray, managing director and chief executive of Raytheon UK. “Working closely with our partners over the past five years, we’ve combined innovative design, digital engineering and proven technologies to develop a sovereign capability for the RAF faster and more efficiently than ever.”
Notably, as shown in the concept’s rendering, Red Kite uses the same airframe of the GBU-53 Stormbreaker. This would indicate that Red Kite falls in the 250 lb (113 kg) class, as the Stormbreaker has a reported weight of 204 lb (93 kg).
It is unclear if Red Kite will share other capabilities with Stormbreaker. The latter notably features a tri-mode seeker that employs imaging infrared, semi-active laser and millimeter wave radar to see through fog, smoke and rain as the weapon glides over 45 miles to strike both fixed or moving targets on land or at sea.
Although it did not disclose details about the guidance, Raytheon said the new weapon builds on the company’s experience with the Paveway IV, the dual-mode precision-guided bomb which is the standard free-fall weapon used by the Royal Air Force. Red Kite can be integrated across a wide range of air platforms, says the company, with likely candidates being the UK’s fleet of Typhoons and F-35s.
“Red Kite is about getting capability to the frontline faster – reducing cost, increasing availability and meeting our customers’ needs when it matters most,” added Gray. “It represents a clear step toward a more resilient, sovereign UK defence industrial base.”
