Epirus Leonidas microwave weapon downs 49 drones at once

In a demonstration not so much of marksmanship but more of the advantages of microwaves, an Epirus Leonidas directed energy, high-power microwave (HPM) anti-drone weapon has knocked 49 Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) out of the air with one shot.

Two things that make drones particularly concerning is that they’re small enough to appear from unexpected corners of the sky and they’re cheap enough that they can be deployed in huge numbers. In fact, they are so cheap that they pose not only a military threat, but a serious hazard to civilian aviation from individuals who are irresponsible, mischievous, or just oblivious.

This is the reason there are so many different types of anti-drone weapons. Each has their advantages and disadvantages, with none providing a one-size-fits-all panacea. Instead, each needs to be fitted to a particular scenario or deployed as part of a layered defense strategy.

One countermeasure is the use of microwave weapons like Leonidas. Named after the Spartan king who held off a Persian invasion with a vastly inferior force at the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas is one of a family of weapons based on using long-pulse microwave beams to burn out the electronics of small drones.

The idea isn’t new, but Epirus has improved on previous iterations by using Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductors to generate microwaves instead of fragile, power-hungry magnetron vacuum tubes. This allows for smaller, more durable, and more mobile systems that use less power. In addition, Leonidas is software driven and can tailor its waveform for optimum effect, it is safe to use around humans who may be in the field of fire, and the present system has twice the range of the 2022 version.

But the core feature is its “one-to-many” capability that gives it operational flexibility to handle a variety of scenarios. For example, it can strike against targets with precision to take out hostile drones while avoiding collateral damage, be programmed to set up no-fly zones with safety corridors to take out hostiles while allowing friendlies to pass, sustain continuous fire without overheating, and take down swarms in one go.

On August 26, 2025, in front of an invitation-only audience at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, Leonidas took part in a live fire exercise in which it disabled 61 drones with 100% success. This included knocking out two groups of three drones approaching without warning from opposite directions, targeting one of two drones selected by an audience member before disabling the second one, and intercepting and dropping a single drone into a predetermined safe zone.

Then came the party piece, it took on over four dozen drones at once, dropping them out of the sky simultaneously with a single pulse. That may not seem like much in words, but a video provided by the company had the lot suddenly crashing like someone had cut their strings.

“This is a watershed moment for Epirus,” said Andy Lowery, Epirus CEO. “We believe showcasing our weaponized electromagnetic interference is the most effective way to communicate that Leonidas is the only mission-capable, counter-swarm solution for the one-to-many fight.Those who joined us witnessed this first-hand as 61 drones went up – and 61 went down.”

Source: Epirus