2026 Jeep Gladiator Shadow Ops Debuts With $4,000 Worth of Free Accessories
If there’s one brand that loves a special edition, it’s Jeep, and it especially loves to endow the Wrangler and its pickup sibling, the Gladiator, with interesting names to make the special editions stand out. After unveiling the Wrangler Whitecap last week, Jeep has now revealed the market’s first midsize pickup with a factory-installed winch: the Gladiator Shadow Ops special edition. It’s part of a new “Convoy” campaign that will see Stellantis produce a number of what it calls “mission-ready” special editions, so brace yourself for many more Wrangler and Gladiator variants over the coming months. More accurately, prepare to have more packages offered by your dealer when you spec a new Jeep in 2026. But that’s not a bad thing when you look at the pricing.
Special Ops is Based on the Most Off-Road-Focused Gladiator
The Gladiator Special Ops is based on the Rubicon variant, the most extreme and off-road-ready version of the pickup. Along with the aforementioned winch, the Shadow Ops package includes heavy-duty steel bumpers both front and rear, a satin black grille, unique red-accented decals on the hood, fender, and tailgate, and a body-color Freedom Top three-piece hardtop. The fender flares are also finished in body color, and inside, the cabin gains all-weather slush mats.
The press release doesn’t say that the Shadow Ops variant is only available in grey, but that’s probably the right choice for something with that name. What it does say is that, because the body-color Freedom Top and fender flares are part of the package, the limited edition is relatively well priced, adding only $2,605 over a similarly equipped Gladiator. That brings us to the price.
2026 Gladiator Shadow Ops Costs Almost $5k More
The Shadow Ops package adds $4,995 to the price of a Jeep Gladiator Rubicon, which starts at $52,000 (so $56,995 in total). For the record, a body-color three-piece Freedom Top costs $1,895, and body-color Rubicon Highline fender flares add $495 to the base price. A satin black Mopar grille is another $395, Anvil (grey) paint is $595, all-weather mats are $170, and steel bumpers are $995. Altogether, the configurator total is $58,540 (including a $1,995 destination charge), and that doesn’t include any decals. It also doesn’t include a Warn winch, which costs $1,800 on the Mopar store, excluding mounting kit ($608) or an adapter plate ($69.10). That brings the total to just over $61,000, so yes, this special-edition package looks like it’s worth the cash, netting buyers over $4,000 worth of additional accessories for ordering (a little less if Jeep doesn’t include the grey paint as part of the package). The only hitch is that you can only order the Gladiator Shadow Ops from February 2026.
