Epirus

What It Is

Epirus builds high-power microwave weapons that knock drones out of the air by disrupting their electronics. It was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Torrance, California. Its counter-drone contracts so far come from the US Army and the Marine Corps.

Andy Lowery has been chief executive since December 2023. He is the third to hold the job since early 2022, after Leigh Madden and Ken Bedingfield.

A laser has to hold its beam on one drone until it burns through. A microwave pulse hits every drone inside its beam at once, which is why Epirus sells Leonidas against swarms.

Key Products

Leonidas is the ground system behind the Army’s Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High-Power Microwave prototype, known as IFPC-HPM. The Army’s rapid-acquisition office ordered prototypes for $66.1 million in January 2023. Epirus delivered the first in November 2023 and the fourth by March 2024. In April 2025 an Army air defence battery fired IFPC-HPM in the Philippines, the system’s first use in the Indo-Pacific, according to the Army.

A second-generation version followed in July 2025, with a $43.5 million contract for two systems. Epirus projects that Gen II will more than double the effective range and raise power by 30 percent.

Leonidas Expeditionary is a version for light tactical vehicles and trailers. A derivative called ExDECS went to the Navy for Marine Corps experiments in 2025. In August 2026 the Marine Corps followed with an $11 million award, through the Office of Naval Research, for HAVOC: a new microwave system on a sled that moves between crewed and uncrewed ground vehicles.

Leonidas H2O is a maritime version for stopping boats. The Leonidas Autonomous Ground Vehicle, shown in March 2026, puts the weapon on a self-driving truck built with General Dynamics Land Systems and Kodiak AI.

Epirus says Leonidas disabled all 61 drones flown at an invitation-only demonstration it ran at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, in August 2025, including a 49-drone swarm in one pulse. It also says Leonidas downed a fibre-optic-guided drone in a December 2025 government test, the first electronic-warfare system to do so.

Business and Financial Position

Epirus is private and publishes no revenue. It raised $70 million in a Series B led by Bedrock Capital in December 2020, with L3Harris investing. A $200 million Series C followed in February 2022, led by funds advised by T. Rowe Price, taking the total to $287 million.

The $250 million Series D closed in March 2025, led by 8VC and Washington Harbour Partners. General Dynamics Land Systems, a strategic partner since 2021, invested again. Epirus put its total venture funding at more than $550 million.

Abroad, Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2026 to test Epirus systems against single drones and swarms.

Why It Matters

On 5 October 2026 the Pentagon picked Leonidas as the only microwave among four directed-energy weapons for a year-long trial at five US bases. The other three are lasers, from AeroVironment, Kord and Boeing. Joint Interagency Task Force 401 runs the trial.

The money behind Leonidas is still prototype money. Every Army award Epirus has announced came through the rapid-acquisition office: $66.1 million, a $17 million modification in 2024, and $43.5 million. In 2023 Epirus said it planned to move Leonidas into a full program of record. Its own newsroom has announced no such award since.

The performance numbers are also mostly Epirus’s own. The Army’s account of the Philippines firing gave no figures. The Pentagon has not said how many Leonidas units the base trial will use or what it will cost.