U.S. electronics warfare specialist Epirus recently demonstrated its flagship Leonidas weapon at a live fire trial in Indiana. The Leonidas system is a high-power microwave (HPM) weapon that “delivers weaponized electromagnetic interference to counter swarms of robotic, asymmetric threats.” During the demo, the latest version of Leonidas successfully disabled all 61 of the 61 drones. Epirus' Leonidas system even managed to down 49 drones in a single ‘shot’ of its HPM beam.
Development of Leonidas began in 2022, and its latest iteration, as demonstrated in the video above, offers “more than double the operational range and lethality” than the first models.
After the successful drone-disrupting showcase earlier this month, Andy Lowery, Epirus CEO, was quick to claim that his firm had reached a “watershed moment.” Furthermore, the demo showed that “Leonidas is the only mission-capable, counter-swarm solution for the one-to-many fight,” asserted Lowery. He underlined his sentiment with the fact that attendees had witnessed “61 drones went up—and 61 went down.”
Ahead of the big headline-grabbing finale, Epirus demonstrated various tactical technologies, such as multi-angle counter-swarm engagement, which tackles two groups of drones coming in from opposite directions.
In an audience participation segment, the Leonidas system was also used to selectively target airborne drones, while leaving non-selected drones unharmed.
Leonidas was even used to take down a drone and ensure it dropped into a “software-defined, pre-identified safe zone.” How tidy.
The Camp Atterbury, Indiana, demonstration was attended by representatives from throughout the U.S. Department of Defense, other U.S. Government agencies, and nine unnamed allied countries.
Indeed, we are now witnessing the increasing importance of drones in modern warfare on a daily basis. We’ve covered fascinating technologies from both sides of the military equation —offense and defense —quite regularly since Russia invaded Ukraine. With the startling and deadly ascendancy of this flavor of asymmetric warfare in mind, it isn't surprising to see investments being made to reinforce military competitiveness in this new theater.
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