Redazione RHC : 3 October 2025 07:17
The American company Epirus has provided an impressive demonstration of its Leonidas microwave defense system, designed to combat drones. At the Camp Atterbury test site in Indiana, the system was able to neutralize 49 drones with a single pulse, and during the exercise, 61 devices were downed, with a 100% success rate.
Drones are becoming an increasingly serious threat: they are small, can appear suddenly, and are cheap enough to be used en masse .
This poses a threat not only to military aviation, but also to civilian aviation, whether from hooligans or simply uninformed users. Therefore, a whole range of anti-drone systems are being developed, each with its own advantages and limitations.
Leonidas is a high-power microwave system that disables drone electronics. Named after the Spartan king Leonidas , who stopped the Persian invasion at Thermopylae, it uses modern gallium nitride semiconductors instead of obsolete and bulky magnetrons. This makes the system more compact, reliable, and mobile , reduces power consumption, and allows continuous operation without overheating.
The Leonidas’s key feature is its ability to strike multiple targets simultaneously. The system can strike specific targets, creating “safe corridors” for allied drones, or unleash a pulse on an entire swarm . The updated version doubles the range of the 2022 model, and software control allows for customization of the beam for maximum effectiveness. Additionally, the weapon is considered safe for personnel within the area of use.
During the demonstration, the system handled several complex scenarios one after another: it shot down drones attacking from different directions, neutralized devices selected by the audience, and even “captured” a single drone, gently landing it in a predetermined area. But the climax was the destruction of the entire swarm: dozens of drones fell to the ground simultaneously, as if their invisible threads had been severed.
“This is a turning point for our company,” said Andy Lowry, CEO of Epirus. “We’ve demonstrated that Leonidas is capable of countering drone swarms. Sixty-one drones took flight during the exercise, and all 61 were shot down.”
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