on On April 28th, US Army captain Bray McCollum was tasked with conducting military exercises in the Philippines. His job was to test the Army’s first weapon, specifically designed to descend a pack of drones in a single shot. The Leonidas IFPC-HPM fires violent pulses of microwave radiation that “destroy or destroy” the electronic components of the drone, Captain McCollum says. That worked.
Most attempts to destroy drones rely on electronic warfare. In electronic warfare, radio signals jam data links to remote operators. These techniques are useless for new drone types, Captain McCollum notes. Some of it is controlled via fiber rays that suppress fiber rays, while others use onboard artificial intelligence to navigate and select targets. As stakes grow, the pace of spending on R&D is being addressed, as is technological advances.
The U.S. Army currently has several Leonidas weapons manufactured by Epilus, a defensive technology startup based in Torrance, California. It is mounted on a trailer, equipped with a diesel generator, located within or near the Western Pacific Ocean and the Middle East. The official is the mother of the weapon range, but Epilus boss Andy Laurie says it is a few hundred metres. The souped version scheduled for this summer should offer a range of over 1 km. The new model can also draw power from a battery pack of approximately 300kg.
Microwaves usually do not stir-fry electronic circuits clearly. Instead, the energy they deposit can generate unnecessary currents, causing the sensitive components to overheat, preventing normal functioning. Lowery explains the net result as a flood of electromagnetic “noise” meaning drones cannot “hear its own.” This causes a crash.
The advance payment costs are high. The Army’s first contract for the four Epilus Microwave Blasters, including services, exceeded $66 million. However, microwave air defense only requires power to travel, not ammunition, so it works much cheaper.
Other contractors have designed similar kits. European giant Thales has developed the Rapid Destroyer, a container-sized microwave blaster attached to a heavy truck. According to the Ministry of Defense, during Wales’ testing range in mid-April, British forces had their rapiddestroyer down a flock of drones with “nearby effects.” Its range is thought to be up to 1 km.
Another supplier is Raidos, a defense company based in Reston, Virginia. By early next year, Reidos hopes to nod to the hammer of Nordic god Thor and provide the US Air Force Institute with a blaster for a operating microwave called the Mjölnir. Although Mjölnir’s output and range are classified, the system “smashes” microchips and other electronics with packs of drones at operational useful distances, says Billy Schaefer, Leidos’ directed energy head. Leidos also designs a shorter range system that two soldiers can carry. That battery pack can also fire some shots.
RTX, a large American defense contractor, is developing a shipping container-sized counter-drone microwave system. And another, called a chimera, works over a longer range. American defense company Lockheed Martin refines the Morphius, a small microwave weapon wrapped in a drone of about 14kg. According to a spokesman, the system is designed to fly into attacking swarms, fire a microwave explosion and return to the base.
Microwave blasters create problems for drone designers. Richard Fisher of the International Centre for Assessment and Strategy, a think tank in Potomac, Maryland, says races continue to protect drones with reflective metal shields. It is unlikely that such an attempt will be completely effective. For one thing, microwaves can heat the surfaces they reflect, potentially heating them to unacceptable temperatures.
Microwaves can also generate charge with conductive and semiconducting protrusions (such as antennas and camera lenses). Mjölnir’s ability to change the wavelength of microwave radiation allows for adjustment of beams that slip through gaps between panel shield panels and mesh holes.
The edges are clear, but manufacturers are slurping about the technology needed to achieve them. Most systems use variations of magnetron technology found in microwave ovens. In a microwave oven, electrons passing through a vacuum tube emit electron waves when exposed to a magnetic field. Epilus takes a different approach, relying on bespoke microchips made from the semiconducting material gallium nitride. When powered with electrical energy, these chips can generate microwave blasts with durations in the millisecond range compared to the nanosecond range of magnetron emitters.
Unlike drone designs, this is not one of them. The technical challenges are extreme. For one, you need to detect and track targets accurately. This is usually a task that operates radar and electro-optic systems in parallel. The weapon’s microwave antennas should also be aimed at preventing your electronics, especially ammunition, from accidentally zapping.
One country that wants to get such a kit is Ukraine. says Oleh Donets, who heads the project for the development of non-kinetic air defenses at Brave1, Kyiv’s government technology accelerator. He notes that Russian forces often dispatch groups of five or more drones to destroy a single target. Until recently, single drone attacks were the norm.
At least two Ukrainian companies have devised counter-drone microwave weapons. One is Transient Technologies, the manufacturer of Kyiv’s ground penetration radar systems. The weapons programme was quietly launched after a complete Russian invasion. However, Volodymyr Ivashchuk, the boss of the company, laments that they are only in the “proof of concept phase.” The other is the first contact, the Kiev company that built the drone that flew in the 1st June Ukraine attack. Boss Valeriy Borovyk says technical assistance has been arranged from German defense contractors and the prototype is ready to be tested later this year.
Brave1 searches for microwave blasters from its allies, testing them in combat as needed. So far, it has not arrived. Epirus requested permission from the US government to send the technology to Ukraine, but was unable to obtain it. However, Mr Lowry was recently contacted by an official who encouraged Epilus to resubmit the documents. Officials said Donald Trump’s thinking about the subject has shifted in favour of granting a license for exports to Ukraine.
This is all exciting. The hope is that former US Navy rear admiral Mark Montgomery will eventually design a blissful microwave blaster from 10km away to a drone and perhaps a subsonic cruise missile. In such a range, the interceptor can be activated if the explosion fails. For now, however, microwaves offer a promising final line of defense. ■
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