Updated May 15, 2024 -
Politics & Policy
Army gets four drone zappers in rush to defend troops
The U.S. Army has received four drone-frying prototype weapons from defense contractor Epirus, as part of a $66 million deal through a rapid acquisition effort to boost defenses against unmanned aerial systems.
Why it matters: The Pentagon is increasingly concerned about the threat posed by UAS, particularly after seeing their use in Ukraine and their proliferation in the Greater Middle East, where three U.S. troops were killed in January.
The Epirus system, dubbed Leonidas, pumps out powerful waves of energy that overwhelm electronics and send smaller aircraft plummeting to the ground.
The company's tech can be installed on manned and unmanned machinery, including on the back of a Stryker combat vehicle or on the belly of a drone.
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/15/drone-defense-us-military-epirus
