Epirus on Wednesday said it has delivered the first prototype high-power microwave (HPM) system to the Army, a key milestone on the path to fielding a capability that can counter swarms of small drones in combat.
Delivery of the short-range air defense Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC)-HPM system took place nine months after the Army awarded the startup a $66 million contract to tailor the company’s internally-developed Leonidas HPM system to meet the service’s requirements (Defense Daily, Jan. 23). Delivery of the system occurred following several days of government acceptance testing (GAT) at the Nevada Test Site in the desert north of Las Vegas.
The acceptance testing included evaluating system safety and interoperability with the Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control system that is the program of record for short-range air defense command and control.
Epirus will deliver one more IFPC-HPM prototype this year and two in early 2024 for the Army to run through a series of capabilities and limitations tests to include operational safety, as well as tactics, techniques, and procedures, Andy Lowery, the company’s chief product officer, told
Defense Daily this week. The Army will begin to exercise the system to get ready for operational testing and then deployment to a combatant command, he said.
If all goes well, Lowery said Epirus is “hopeful” of a decision in the fourth quarter of 2024 of when and where the first IFPC-HPM systems will be deployed to a theater.
“We’ve got a very, very high pole position of interest in the Army and a desire to get this fielded, and I know there’s a desire to get this in combatant commands,” Lowery said.
Epirus expects that IFPC-HPM eventually becomes a program of record, which means it has identified funding supporting procurement and further development of the directed energy system. The company’s current work is an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO). OTAs are authorities that allow agencies to streamline the development and prototyping of a product, giving potential customers the ability to more quickly test and even operate a system.
What steps the Army takes to move IFPC-HPM toward or into a program remain unclear, Lowery said. The Army’s Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space is working with RCCTO on how to transition the system, he said, noting for example that this could be entry as a program at the low-rate initial production phase or possibly the continued purchase of prototypes that are fielded operationally.
“The good news,” Lowery said, “we’re on the rail track to a program of record” and if Epirus continues to execute, IFPC-HPM will stay on the track. “So, we’re very, very excited about where we’re at today because the GAT kind of locks us pretty hard onto the track of getting to a program of record.”
Epirus began with venture capital and the development of its Leonidas HPM system has also benefited from Defense Department funding. The company was founded in 2018 and is included in the non-profit Silicon Valley Defense Group’s rankings of the top 100 venture funded defense and dual-use startups.
If IFPC-HPM becomes a program of record, it would help Epirus cross the so-called “valley of death” that many small companies perish in by having a customer for production units and opening doors to additional prospects.
The testing in Nevada included different scenarios and as many as nine small drones at once, and all were defeated by IFPC-HPM, Lowery said. The testing included Group 1 and 2 fixed-wing and vertical-take-off-and-landing drones.
Lowery said that IFPC-HPM “exceeded everyone’s expectations” when it came to effective range. Lowery said he is not allowed to discuss the specific ranges but highlighted that it was effective in the gap between small arms fire and several miles out.
Small drones are being used by both sides in the Russo-Ukraine war to drop grenade-size munitions, conduct surveillance and reconnaissance, targeting, and battle damage assessment. Some small drones are also integrated with warheads, becoming loitering munitions controlled by a human operator to strike fixed and moving targets.
Epirus would like the opportunity to defeat dozens and even hundreds of drones, which is what Leonidas was originally designed to do, including in a cluttered urban environment.