The U.S. Navy will test how effectively the high-power microwave tech developed by Epirus can take out unmanned surface vessels. That’s to be part of the ANTX-CT24 series of field experiments centered on improving security in the maritime domain.
Epirus, already an important supplier of High Powered Microwave capabilities to the Army, will have its long-pulse tools tested against outboard-motor-powered small vessels. The testing, by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme’s Office of Technology, is the latest effort to find a low-cost non-lethal counter to the growing threat from seaborne drones.
U.S. forces have been actively fighting unmanned surface vessels and attack drones in the Red Sea, specifically those launched from Yemen by the Houthis. The effectiveness of USVs also has been demonstrated by nation-states, such as Ukraine using robo-boats against Russian forces.
Led by the research-and-development community of the Navy, ANTX events are proving grounds for determining utility for industry innovations and informing investment priorities and acquisition decisions. The Coastal Trident version occurs annually and focuses on defeating asymmetric threats to maritime forces, marine transportation, and critical port infrastructure.
Some focus areas under technology in ANTX-CT24 include unmanned systems applications and countermeasures, critical infrastructure security, threat mitigation, incident response, and augmented and virtual reality modeling. The exercise will also test the effectiveness of the HPM technology when deployed on uncrewed autonomous vessels.
Execution will be from June to September for ANTX-CT24 and will involve land-based, waterside, and offshore facilities across Southern California. Brendan Applegate, fleet experimentation and exercise lead at NSWC Port Hueneme, said the few experiments that have transpired with HPM have provided promising results in defeating electronic systems and unmanned aircraft swarms. While he would not comment on the test results, he said the assessment of Epirus’ HPM system in a counter-surface vessel role will support the goals of the program quite well.
Epirus recently delivered to the Army four prototype systems under the Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High-Power Microwave program. The variants of the contractor’s Leonidas system use a solid-state GaN power amplifier. AI-enabled semiconductors in Gallium Nitride provide a high power density without special cooling technology.
Epirus CEO Andy Lowery said that we’re showing this new threat environment what long-pulse HPM is capable of. For Epirus, this expanded agreement with the DoD emphasizes the value that innovative tech companies can bring to bear when the customer is eager to collaborate with firms from outside the traditional defense ecosystem.
The portfolio of directed energy weapons-microwaves and lasers, for example-provides the warfighter with a highly economical alternative compared with traditional munitions and comes close to unlimited magazines. HPM systems are better positioned than any other weapon system for the defeat of swarms of drones.
Navy officials have been frustrated by the slow fielding of directed energy systems. The secretary, Carlos Del Toro, has signaled that he’d like to increase investments in these technologies. For fiscal 2025, the Navy is asking for $14 million for research, development, testing, and evaluation of the Meteor program-which would further develop air and missile defenses. The sea service would add another $10 million for related efforts in fiscal 2026.
This will be an effort to “tactically significant, non-kinetic” HPM payload integration onto Naval platforms to defeat, track, engage, and assess operational threats. The work will deliver a shipboard weapon prototype for integration in fiscal 2026 along with a test bed to enable continued technology maturation.
The Department of the Navy is also seeking approximately $6 million in fiscal 2025 for a Marine Corps Landing Force Tech program element. It would comprise developing a solid-state HPM capability to enable Marines to conduct expeditionary advanced base operations to defeat drone swarms and other unmanned systems in littoral regions.
The need for speeding up the development and fielding of high-powered lasers and microwaves against kamikaze drones in the Red Sea, among other asymmetric threats, has been emphasized by Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, commander of U.S. Naval Surface Forces. He made this observation against the background of how American ships have had to take down the Houthi unmanned aerial systems and platforms using traditional air-defense weapons.
Rear Adm. Fred Pyle, director of surface warfare, OPNAV N96, said the Navy is focused on building up its munitions inventory, but must continue to find cost-effective ways to neutralize threats. Rear Adm. Joseph Cahill, commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic, tied it all together, underscoring the role of the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center in updating tactics as a function of real-time data from operations underway.