Latest news with #AndyLowery
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Army Puts $43M Bet On Next Gen Leonidas High Power Microwave Counter Drone Tech
Today, high power microwave (HPM) system maker Epirus announced it has received a $43,551,060 contract from the U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) for delivery of two of its new advanced Generation II Leonidas HPM air defense systems along with associated equipment and spares for test events, with options for additional tests, components and support. The Leonidas systems are being built now. The first is expected to be completed by the end of July and the second by the end of August, Eprius' CEO Andy Lowery revealed at a media roundtable attended by TWZ at the company's Washington, D.C., offices last week. A third system will be finished by late September. The Army formally refers to the Leonidas HPM system as the 'Integrated Fires Protection Capability High-Power Microwave' (IFPC-HPM) system. IFPC-HPM is intended for the critical low-altitude air defense (LAAD) role, defending installations, platforms, and formations. Leonidas is largely aimed at defeating unmanned aircraft, including swarms of drones. It could also potentially be employed against more traditional aircraft, as well as low-flying cruise missiles, and robotic threats on the ground or on the water. Epirus describes IFPC-HPM as an effective, cost-efficient electromagnetic interference system with a 'one-to-many' capability to disrupt the electronics of multiple drones simultaneously. It does so by transmitting long-pulse microwave energy across multiple frequency bands, which overloads the electrical systems of drones that fly into the electromagnetic field it creates. In view of the recent success of so-called 'Trojan Horse' drone attacks inside Russia by Ukraine and inside Iran by Israel, the Army and DoD writ large are eager to acquire defenses against pop-up swarms. These groups of drones could threaten U.S. bases, sensors, ships, ports, communications, and wider military/civilian infrastructure abroad and here at home. The Leonidas IFPC-HPM is part of a product line that also includes Leonidas Mobile, which features the company's HPM array integrated atop a Stryker vehicle system; Leonidas H₂O, a marinized system designed for counter-unmanned surface vessel and maritime counter-swarm; Leonidas Pod, a UAS-borne system for electronic attack; and an Expeditionary Directed Energy Counter-Swarm system for forward-deployed defense for the Marine Corps, which TWZ covered earlier this year. The Generation II (GEN II) systems that the RCCTO is acquiring build on the design of the first version of Leonidas. They also benefit from user feedback from the deployment of four GEN I system prototypes to the Middle East in 2024 and to the Indo-Pacific earlier this Spring. The Army plans to test two of the GEN II systems at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California in October. The tests will assess their cooperative fires capability and other engineering metrics. Epirus' CEO told the roundtable that, in his view, the tests will be 'a defining moment' for the company. If the systems perform as expected, formal Army acquisition should follow. Success with the Army would kickstart demand for IFPC-HPM and the other Leonidas-based systems in at least three emerging markets, according to Lowery. The first is the basic overseas LAAD requirement that the Army seeks to fill. Lowery calls this the 'Tower 22' scenario, a reference to a drone attack launched by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq that struck Tower 22, a U.S. military outpost in Rukban, northeast Jordan, in January 2024. The attack killed three U.S. soldiers and injured 47 others. If an Epirus system had been in place and properly engaged, the American losses would have been prevented, Lowery maintains. He also cites the recent Israeli success in disrupting Iranian air defenses by attacking from within Iran with drones and loitering munitions as another demand driver in the overseas market, particularly in the Middle East. 'I think that's one of the most urgent applications of our system – get to those Patriot [surface-to-air missile system] sites in CENTCOM [the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility] and put Leonidas next to every one of those sites.' Homeland defense represents a second market. Lowery opines that IFPC-HPM and other Epirus systems could logically be part of the layered homeland air defense envisioned in the Trump administration's Golden Dome initiative. Noting potential threats associated with the upcoming World Cup soccer series, which U.S. cities will host next June-July, he suggests there is a need for in-place HPM systems near the match venues and at the U.S. southern border. Lowery also noted a recent meeting he had with Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Lt. General Adrian Spain, who expressed the service's urgent requirement for 'point defense' for Air Force bases and flightlines. TWZ has extensively elaborated on the risks of drone attacks to USAF bases at home and abroad for years. As a result of the threat and the meeting, Lowery said that he thinks the Air Force is likely to begin leasing IFPC-HPM systems in 2026. Possible acquisitions by the Marines (ExDECS, Leonidas POD) and the Navy may follow upcoming demonstrations for both services. The third market is in foreign military sales, spurred by developments in Ukraine and the Middle East. Lowery also noted the AUKUS Pillar II agreement, which has led to Epirus' participation in Australia's Project LAND 156, aimed at neutralizing small drones (up to 25kg) on the battlefield. Eprius' CEO says the company is 'fairly confident' that it will be chosen as a supplier for the non-kinetic effector portion of the program. AUKUS is a trilateral Australia-United Kingdom-United States defense cooperation agreement. Momentum for the sale of the latest version of the system is highly positive, Lowery told the roundtable. He added that the Army was 'extremely happy' with the two previous experimental deployments of IFPC-HPM I systems in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific. He characterized Eprius' discussions with the Army and DoD not as a question of whether they wish to move forward. 'The question becomes, what do we move forward with?,' he said. Today, Eprius could produce 20 IFPC-HPM II systems per year at its Torrance, California, facility with relative comfort, Lowery says, and may be able to stretch to 30 if required. With a view to potential demand, the company is assessing additional production in proximity to the Army's Joint Counter-Small UAS University and Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. Prior to potential production, nailing down specific requirements, including maintenance, a curriculum for training, the deployed number of operators per system, and more, must be finalized with the Army. Ensuring that IFPC-HPM II meets range expectations as part of a layered LAAD system is vital as well. Lowery confirms that the Army has defined a region called 'Final Protective Fires,' which has a one-kilometer radius and a 600-foot altitude. 'That's the layer that IFPC HPM is designed to go into.' As TWZ has previously noted, radio frequency directed-energy weapons offer notable advantages over 'soft-kill' options, like electronic warfare jammers, given that they can also bring down drones that are operating autonomously, or those using fiber-optic-cable guidance, by disrupting their onboard electronics. However, Andy Lowery stressed that Epirus does not view Leonidas simply as a directed energy or HPM system. He makes a point of referring to it as 'weaponized electromagnetic interference.' Lowery explained that when Epirus began development in 2018, it was initially envisioned as a phased array version of a THOR-type (Tactical High-power Operational Responder) system. But after further developing IFPC-HPM GEN I, the company realized that Leonidas wasn't operating anything like THOR. Leonidas, he says, doesn't destroy drones by narrowly targeting and overloading their capacitors like THOR. Lowery compares THOR to a 'death ray.' Leonidas, he explains, generates a very intense electromagnetic interference field (EIF). The EIF formed by the system creates a dome or umbrella, which stretches out to what the Army calls 'tactically relevant range' around the transmitter and up to about 600 feet above ground at its apex. It does not target specific drones or even swarms. Instead, drones fly into the EIF on their way to their targets. IFPC-HPM does this by extending an electromagnetic field through large periods of time. Traditional HPM puts out a massively powerful pulse for about 10 nanoseconds – shorter than the distance between one computer clock pulse and the next clock pulse – Lowery says. Leonidas' HPM pulse extends to a millisecond, longer than even radars. 'Imagine, a thousand clock cycles might be in that millisecond. The whole time that electromagnetic energy is just hitting and hitting that [target], confusing it to the point where the system shuts down. That's how the [Leonidas system] works.' Along with illustrating how Epirus' HPM concept works, Lowery made what should be considered a noteworthy claim: 'We found that electromagnetic interference can be smart… It can figure out pathways into hardened areas if you get the carrier frequency pulses right. If everything is dialed in right, you can even penetrate what you might think to be a hardened, non-susceptible drone.' The ability to disrupt and down even electromagnetically shielded drones (or ground robots, uncrewed surface vessels, etc.) would present U.S. adversaries with a steep challenge if IFPC-HPM-type systems proliferate. In simple terms, the system consists of a phased-array antenna, supporting computer processing equipment, command-control links, a user interface, a trailer, and a transmitter. The heart of the transmitter consists of Line Replaceable Amplifier Modules (LRAMs), rectangular boxes which can scale in number to meet size, weight, and power requirements or desired range output. The IFPC-HPM has about 150 LRAMs. Lowery explains that most of the system's high-value electronics are in the LRAMs. Upgrades would be sent primarily to these modules as well. As a rule of thumb, the system's size and range scale linearly with the number of LRAMs. For example, a 10 LRAM system would have ten times less range than a 100-element system. In remarks to the roundtable, Lowery put the range of IFPC-HPM GEN I at about one kilometer. The GEN II version of the system increases the range to somewhere around 2 kilometers (1.25 miles). Expanding on the theme, he gave an intriguing example when discussing the scalability and range. If increased range were desired, Epirus could make a '25 LRAM by 25 LRAM' system, which would total 625 elements. Such a system, he said, would 'give you at least six or seven kilometers of range.' Lowery quickly added that 'this is all theoretical' and that Epirus is not selling any 625-element systems today. Leonidas' scalability aligns with cost, as well. According to Lowery, LRAMs represent 65% of the cost of IFPC-HPM, with the remaining 35% sunk into other equipment, including the antenna's metal columns, trailer, positioner, and other ingredients mentioned above. The open architecture and modularity of the system – from its LRAM complement to its phased array modules – make continuous software-defined improvement and upgrades possible. Given that its modules fail individually, IFPC-HPM can still function when one or more are lost, and failed modules can be easily replaced. This means that a buyer does not need to buy two Leonidas systems (primary and backup) to support 99% mission availability. With replacement modules on hand, field maintenance should be relatively straightforward. All of the above give it a sustainment cost much lower than traditional HPM or other directed energy systems, Lowery argues, putting the purchase price 'between $10 and $20 million' per system. 'We think Leonidas is very reasonably costed. We didn't build this with exquisite parts and gold-plated apertures.' Epirus began re-engineering IFPC-HPM in 2022, in accordance with the Army's desire for improved performance. 'Although [GEN I and GEN II] do the exact same thing, they are completely different,' Lowery adds. The new system produces 30% more power, can transmit continuously for much longer, and emits more heavy-duty pulses and cycles. It also exploits all the different cardinal signal polarizations, a capability that GEN I did not have. (Full signal polarization capability enables transmission of specially filtered waves.) 'We anticipate the range to be 2.5 times the range [of Gen 1] in the same size package,' Lowery affirmed. The changes, including increased peak power, called for a redesigned power supply structure, which now includes 800 pounds of lithium-poly batteries. The increased energy storage means that IFPC-HPM II can operate without any external power for up to 30 minutes of firing. Given that a typical engagement with one drone might take 4 seconds, Lowery says a 30-minute run with GEN II could take out many, many drones or guard against wave attacks. In the field or at a base, operators can choose whether they plug in a 70 kW generator and go for continuous use or employ a 20kW generator to periodically charge the system batteries like charging a Tesla. With GEN II also comes the ability to connect a pair of IFPC-HPM systems and fire them cooperatively. They would effectively operate as one, Lowery says, with a 2X linear increase in power and range. As noted, the cooperative fires capability will be tested at China Lake. It's ironic, if predictable, that the capability that IFPC-HPM has apparently demonstrated is also a vulnerability. In response to a question about the system's electronic signature and its high value as a target, Lowery admitted. 'I have a lot of concerns about that. When the system is dormant or in standby, there's no signature, no radiation, maybe a little heat signature. There isn't a lot to target off of other than its metal and physical size.' 'But if you transmitted with our system in Kyiv, they would be able to detect it in St. Petersburg. If they had a direction-finder, they'd be able to say, 'Hey, we had something 1,000 miles away just go off in the L-band.' It puts out a massive amount of energy, more electromagnetic interference energy than any other system in the world.' Given that IFPC-HPM II will be 'as bright as the sun' when transmitting, the Army will have to develop a concept of operations for use at the combat edge to ensure survivability in the face of adversary attempts to wipe it out. Lowery says the service may develop 'shoot-and-scoot' tactics, lighting IFPC-HPM up briefly to down drone or other threats, then immediately moving to another location to make the system harder to target by missile. Other attack risks, like drones dropping in from high altitude at high trajectories, will have to be considered, as well. Lowery says that Leonidas was 'born to be mobile' and that the IFPC-HPM system can go from a stowed position to a cold-start to up and firing in 'between 15 and 20 minutes.' Epirus will have integration efforts for its various Leonidas-based offerings on multiple vehicles early next year, with a nod to increasing their survivability and expanding their range by making them mobile. The sort of cat-and-mouse game that will play out with systems like IFPC-HPM is one that Lowery says has pervaded his career. Over the course of it, he has come to the realization that war is already being fought in a '6th domain' which joins air, land, sea, space, and cyber. He calls the new domain 'physical cyber'. 'The 6th domain war is a war of guerrilla robots, guerrilla warfare leveraging robots, autonomy, Qualcomm Snapdragon, and Nvidia processors.' Ukraine, Israel, and Russia all now have service branches dedicated to drone warfare, Lowery notes. The U.S. military does not. But with the acquisition of IFPC-HPM and other counter-drone systems seemingly on the horizon, the possibility that America may stand up a dedicated robotic warfare service branch has increased. Lowery asserts that if the U.S. military does not adopt such systems and a 6th domain mentality quickly, it will lose. Contact the editor: Tyler@ Solve the daily Crossword
Miami Herald
10-07-2025
- Miami Herald
As Drone Warfare Evolves, Pentagon Sees Its Own Vulnerabilities
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has been working to beef up drone defenses at overseas bases in the past 18 months, after three Army reservists were killed in an attack by an Iran-backed militia on an outpost in Jordan early last year. But in recent months, the U.S. military has seen a potentially broader vulnerability, as both Israel and Ukraine attacked adversaries with drones smuggled deep behind enemy lines. The audacious and creative use of drones by an Israeli intelligence agency to mount strikes from inside Iran, and Ukraine's so-called Operation Spider's Web, which knocked out Russian strategic bombers with drones launched from inside Russia, has made clear that the threat to the U.S. military is not just overseas, but also at home. American defense companies are pushing new technologies that they say can more effectively intercept drones. The companies are hoping that the billions of dollars the Pentagon is planning to invest in missile defense -- the so-called Golden Dome program -- will also be used to build up new drone defenses. Some new technologies aim not to shoot down drones one by one, but use what is known as directed energy, including high-powered microwaves, to take down large swarms of drones at once. The military has conducted at least two tests of the new microwave system, including one in the Middle East and one in the Pacific, setting the stage for a bigger Pentagon investment. The leaders of Epirus, the company that developed the microwave defense, have warned that the rise of new kinds drones means the U.S. military faces a 'guerrilla war of machines,' a style of fighting that is alien to the Pentagon's traditional way of thinking. Andy Lowery, chief executive of Epirus, said drone warfare between Russia and Ukraine had evolved with breathtaking speed. 'What we saw in Russia will play out here,' he said. 'Operation Spider's Web should be a real wake-up call to us, to the whole world, that this is very, very serious.' Ukraine, with U.S. help, has invested in drone technology and has developed new kinds of drones that can be used against ships, planes and tanks. American officials estimate that in recent months, Ukrainian drones have caused some 70% of Russian casualties. During Operation Spider's Web, Ukraine's intelligence agency smuggled drones across Russia to strike multiple air bases at once, destroying a large number of Russian strategic bombers. The attack highlighted how effective relatively cheap, concealable drones can be against traditional militaries. 'We're watching with our jaws dropped down on how fast the Ukrainians adapt to new technologies,' Lowery said. Russia has used its own drones and ones built by Iran to terrorize Ukrainian troops and the country's civilian population. Iranian drones have been used by Tehran-backed militias, not just in the attack in Jordan that killed the U.S. Army reservists, but in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. And Israel's use of drones smuggled into Iran in its initial attack on the country's nuclear program last month showed how quickly new technologies were spreading around the world. Shifting its strategy to counter drones, experts said, has challenged the Pentagon. 'This is a Sept. 11-style problem, and we are still operating in a Sept. 10 mindset,' said Christian Brose, chief strategy officer at Anduril, a defense company that makes equipment for the U.S. military to detect and destroy adversarial drones. 'On the day after a catastrophic attack, there is going to be a string of evidence that we should have seen this coming.' Pentagon officials insist they are taking the threat seriously and making investments to improve defenses. American commanders, especially in the Middle East, have taken steps over the past several years to build what the military calls a layered network of defenses, including jamming devices, missiles and other systems, to ward off hostile drone, rocket and missile attacks. Those efforts accelerated after the three Army reservists were killed in January 2024 at a remote logistics outpost in northeast Jordan called Tower 22. The drones were fired at the base by Iran-backed militias. Since then, the military has made 'considerable improvements across the board,' Adm. Charles B. Cooper II, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next head of the Pentagon's Central Command, told senators last month. 'We really are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were before' the attack in Jordan, Cooper said. 'Having said that, I would never be satisfied that we have the maximum readiness.' But Brose and others said the threat is not just at overseas bases. In December 2023, surveillance drones flew over an Air Force base in Virginia where F-22 planes were stationed. 'Does anyone believe if a country wanted to try to do to us what the Ukrainians did to Russia that they wouldn't have a decent ability to be successful?' Brose asked. 'Do we think it's impossible that a willing adversary couldn't sneak nefarious drones into the country?' Lowery, the Epirus chief executive, noted that the Pentagon had spared counter-drone defenses from its across-the-board cuts announced earlier this year. In hearings on Capitol Hill last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked repeatedly by Republican and Democratic lawmakers about America's vulnerability to drone attacks. Hegseth said that 'cheaper, one-way commercially available drones with small explosives represent a new threat.' Hegseth said that he met with Gen. Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and top aides soon after the Ukrainian attacks to ensure that military forces based in the United States and overseas were adequately protected. The secretary recently approved the creation of a new organization, led by the Army, to address drone warfare and counter-drone measures, Gen. James Mingus, the Army's vice chief of staff, said at a conference in Washington last week. The organization is modeled after an agency the Pentagon formed two decades ago to counter roadside bombs that insurgents used against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army oversees drone defense for the military. But critics of the Army's past approaches have said its counter-drone defenses are built on older technology and are not adaptable enough, given how quickly the drone threat has evolved on the battlefield in Ukraine. New technologies can detect and identify incoming drones, then take them out more efficiently. Older technology, critics say, is poor at identifying drones, including which ones pose the most acute and immediate threat. Robust drone defense requires multiple ways to take out a drone, some defense experts said. Anduril, which has contracts with Special Operations Command and the Marine Corps, has a counter-drone system that combines methods for detecting a drone, including cameras and radar, with various ways to take it down, including shooting down the drone and jamming it. Supporters of those technologies say the innovations show that the government does not have to invent counter-drone systems, but simply adopt new technologies more quickly. Corporations making new anti-drone technologies have complained that government regulations hinder development. Lowery compared the emerging drone threat to a famous scene from Star Wars. 'We aren't thinking about the fact that an X-Wing pilot dropped a little bomb in the middle of the Death Star and blew the whole thing to smithereens,' Lowery said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
Yemen Online
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yemen Online
US Army Receives Advanced System to Counter Yemen's Houthi Drones
In a new move to enhance regional security, the US defense company Epirus has announced the delivery of an advanced counter-drone system to the US Army. This development is part of ongoing efforts to combat Houthi drone attacks targeting commercial ships and military bases in the Red Sea and surrounding areas. The new system, known as ExDECS, utilizes directed-energy technology to disrupt drone swarms before they reach their targets. Derived from the Leonidas Expeditionary system, it is specifically designed to neutralize unconventional aerial threats using high-powered microwave waves. The prototype of the system has been delivered to the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Virginia, where it will undergo testing as part of ground-based air defense operations. According to Andy Lowery, CEO of Epirus, the system provides US forces with a "critical advantage" in countering drone threats, strengthening their ability to protect military and civilian assets in the region. This development comes at a time when Houthi drone attacks have been escalating, with the group increasingly using UAVs in assaults against commercial ships and military bases. The newly deployed system is expected to boost US defensive capabilities against these threats, offering enhanced protection for international shipping and regional stability.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Marines Get Their First High Power Microwave Weapon For Taking On Drone Swarms
The U.S. Marine Corps has taken delivery of the Expeditionary Directed Energy Counter-Swarm, or ExDECS, weapon, its maker Epirus announced today to coincide with the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington, D.C. ExDECS will allow the Corps to start experiments with high-power microwave (HPM) technology in the increasingly critical low-altitude air defense (LAAD) role. This kind of counter-drone system is increasingly seen as a critical layer in force protection and something that is urgently needed to enhance current and future ground-based air defense capabilities. ExDECS is a derivative of the Leonidas HPM-energy-based counter-drone system developed by Epirus, whose products we will revisit soon in a very in-depth story. The company delivered the first ExDECS system to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in Virginia earlier this year, where it completed government acceptance testing ahead of a planned test program. The mobile, solid-state HPM system has been developed as part of a contract awarded by the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR). In September 2024, the ONR awarded Epirus an additional follow-on contract to support further testing and evaluation of the system as part of the Preliminary Evaluation of Ground-based Anti-Swarm UAS System (PEGASUS) program. 'Drone warfare is changing the fight — fast. Systems like ExDECS give Marines a decisive advantage by neutralizing multiple electronic threats at once with a single system — what we call a one-to-many capability,' said Andy Lowery, CEO of Epirus. 'This delivery is a critical step toward fielding non-kinetic counter-swarm solutions that enhance the mobility, survivability, and lethality of our Marine forces.' While the maximum effective range of ExDECS is classified, the Department of Defense has confirmed that Epirus HPM systems can affect targets at 'tactically relevant ranges,' the company confirmed to TWZ. Generally, HPM systems are for point defense, effective within a handful of miles of the target. Leonidas Expeditionary was introduced in 2024 and is the latest addition to the company's range of scalable HPM systems for counter-electronics. ExDECS is designed to integrate with light tactical vehicles and trailers to improve expeditionary short-range air defense (SHORAD) capabilities. HPM weapons belong to a broader category of directed-energy weapons, which also includes lasers. All of them tackle their target or targets without the use of a projectile. Specifically, HPM weapons use high-frequency radio waves to disrupt or disable critical electronic systems on a target — literally frying them if the weapons are powerful enough. Once targeted, aerial drones will crash or otherwise malfunction. An HPM system's power levels and how it focuses its beam have impacts on its range and ability to engage multiple threats at once. A wide beam means HPM weapons have greater potential to counter drone swarms than lasers, which have to focus on one target at a time. A radiofrequency directed-energy weapon also offers notable advantages over 'soft-kill' options, like electronic warfare jammers, in that it can also bring down drones that are operating autonomously, or those using fiber-optic-cable guidance, by disrupting their onboard electronics. ExDECS and the Leonidas system are primarily aimed at defeating uncrewed aircraft, including large drones or networked swarms of drones. It could also potentially be employed against more traditional aircraft, as well as low-flying cruise missiles, and even threats on the ground. The U.S. Army previously acquired and field-tested a microwave weapon ostensibly designed for non-lethal crowd-control use. Like a laser, an HPM weapon is also cheap to use. Epirus estimates that defeating a drone with ExDECS costs just five cents. This becomes an even more important factor when faced with drone swarms, which a system like ExDECS is optimized for. As an Epirus spokesperson told TWZ: 'It's not about targeting one drone at a time — it's about affecting everything within the volume of space covered by our electronically scanned array.' Epirus previously told TWZ that the technology behind Leonidas makes it particularly efficient since it uses 'artificial intelligence-controlled solid-state power amplifiers to achieve extremely high levels of power output.' The company says this makes the core components of this directed-energy weapon highly scalable, as well. As we have discussed before, HPM directed-energy weapons are an area in which the U.S. military, including the Navy, and other armed forces around the world are currently investing. Epirus is among the leading players in this field, with its Leonidas having previously been integrated on the Stryker armored fighting vehicle. Other examples include the Tactical High-power Operational Responder, also known as THOR, a containerized counter-drone system that the U.S. Air Force has been testing. Outside the United States, systems include the British Army's Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon demonstrator, or RF DEW, which has demonstrated the ability to bring down a swarm of drones during trials, which you can read about here. As for the Marine Corps, the service is forging ahead with plans to expand its counter-drone strategy, with a wide variety of systems, from vehicle-mounted solutions down to infantry-operated ones. These include the vehicle-based Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or MADIS, and the lighter L-MADIS. Both these systems use electronic jamming to disrupt enemy drone communications, but they can also be used in conjunction with kinetic effectors. In MADIS, the vehicles are provided with 30mm cannons and M240C coaxial machine guns, while L-MADIS can be teamed with shoulder-fired FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. An early version of L-MADIS made headlines in 2019 when it shot down an Iranian drone from the deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer during its operational debut. Since ExDECS is trailer-based, it could also be deployed aboard warships in this way. While MADIS and L-MADIS represent the initial effort to bolster the counter-drone capabilities of Marine Corps low-altitude air defense battalions, the service is also working on a broader, and more nebulous, effort that aims to give every Marine access to drone defense and detection capabilities. You can read more about this plan here. Another part of the Marine Corps' counter-drone strategy involves installation defense. This involves weapons or technologies that can protect Marine Corps bases and facilities from hostile drones, with a focus on using non-kinetic means of disrupting drones or bringing them down. This has seen Counter small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (I-CUAS) installed at Marine bases. With drones becoming better hardened against electronic countermeasures and jamming, and increasingly autonomous, counter-drone strategies are made more complicated. A fast-evolving threat means that a broad range of countermeasures is needed to keep pace, in what is a potentially deadly cat-and-mouse game. Now, with the receipt of the ExDECS, the Marines are ready to start trials with this HPM technology. Contact the author: thomas@
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Epirus debuts high-power microwave weapon to knock out boat motors
Counter-drone company Epirus unveiled a new high-power microwave system capable of disabling manned and unmanned boat motors, it announced Tuesday. Leonidas H2O 'was effective against vessel motors at record ranges' during the U.S. Navy's Advanced Technology Exercise Coastal Trident event in Crane, Indiana, held in August 2024, according to the announcement. The system knocked out four commercially available vessel motors, varying in horsepower from 40 to 90 'at a multitude of ranges,' it noted. The Pentagon 'has spent years of research and development and spent tens-of-millions of dollars into developing a non-kinetic vessel stop solution, with no operational system deployed to date. With Leonidas H2O, we are bringing forth a technology with demonstrated effectiveness to fill this capability gap, today,' Epirus CEO Andy Lowery said in the statement. The California-based company debuted its ground-based system designed to protect forward operating bases from incoming swarm threats in 2020 and has since proven Leonidas can adapt to other platforms, including being mounted on a drone in a pod. 'Leonidas, by its nature, it's just an old-fashioned platform. We've made force fields … of electromagnetic energy,' Lowery told Defense News. 'Whether that electromagnetic energy spoils a drone's electronics from working correctly or spoils a boat's motor, or use your imagination, anything with little computers in it and stuff, is susceptible to these persistent fields of energy.' The recent Navy exercise proved the system — scaled down to a third of its original size — could go up against 'a whole bunch of different types of boat motors out there,' Lowery said. It did so despite testing restrictions at the range limiting it from operating at full strength and from using certain frequencies. Lowery noted that the system was effective up to nearly 100 meters working at half power. The technology would come in handy at ports and close to coastlines, where kinetic defenses would not be a good option, Lowery said. Adapting Leonidas for marine operations meant the company took into account that it would endure the corrosive effects of salt water, but otherwise, 'the system works more or less the same,' Lowery said. 'Except for one item,' he added. 'It kind of uses the water as a mirror, and so [we] can use the water to our advantage, that is it hits certain spots in even further distances by using reflections off the water.' Because of the beams' behavior on water, the company made adaptations to the software, he noted. One limitation of the system is that it does not work under water. 'The frequencies just don't propagate under water. They just stop dead in like an inch of travel,' Lowery said. Epirus continues to work to get the capability into the hands of service members. There are two systems deployed with the Army in the U.S. Central Command area of operations and a few others going to another operational area, Lowery said. US Army could soon have a high-power microwave to destroy small drone swarms 'Operational commanders probably have the strongest voice on hitting a gas pedal and getting us moving a lot quicker,' he added. A Navy solution, Lowery said, could be delivered 'expeditiously.' The system could be packed in a container to fit on a vessel like a Littoral Combat Ship or a Coast Guard cutter, he noted. 'They can very easily put one of these on long fantail ships. Even some of these same fantail ships are in the Black Sea trying to do sort of escort control for merchants and other things running through that region,' Lowery said. 'Another excellent idea is to try to hit some of the surface missiles that the Houthis and stuff are sending out. We could try our hand at disrupting some of those things as well.' Lowery said he often points to how the Russian invasion of Ukraine in recent years has left Russia with roughly 50% of its navy capabilities destroyed, sunk or damaged beyond use by Ukrainians, with no navy, using unmanned weapons. 'We're back into this war of the machines. We're back into this kind of guerrilla warfare where the first wave of battle ends up becoming machines on machines,' he said. 'We can have a system that has a very deep magazine that can build force fields out and take care of these, not only unmanned air vehicles, but unmanned surface vessels and unmanned ground vehicles.'
