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United States Epirus, Inc.
Leonidas
A solid-state, software-defined high-power-microwave (HPM) directed-energy weapon that disables the electronics of multiple drones simultaneously with a single non-kinetic pulse, fielded to the US Army as prototypes under the IFPC-HPM program and deployed to US Central Command for real-world counter-swarm testing.
In service since 2023
Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗
Pricing: US Army IFPC-HPM: $66.1M contract (January 2023) for 4 prototypes delivered by March 2024; $43.5M IFPC-HPM Generation II follow-on (July 2025); per-unit price not publicly disclosed
Procurement snapshot
Availability & export
US ITAR-controlled
Export needs U.S. State Dept (DDTC) approval; end-use & re-transfer restrictions apply.
Channel: Foreign Military Sales (FMS) or Direct Commercial Sale
Fielded & proven
Operator data not public
In service since 2023. Status: active.
Lifecycle cost (est.)
No public unit price to model from. Why so few systems publish one →
Interoperability
No standardised NATO calibre / datalink detected in public specs.
Competitive field
68 comparable systems from 28 other manufacturers
Counted in the WeaponSpecs database: air-defense systems built by another manufacturer that share at least one published role with this system. A count of what this catalog holds, not a survey of the whole market. See the alternatives →
Derived guidance from public data, export regime by country of origin, lifecycle from the GAO ~30% acquisition rule. Verify eligibility, pricing and offsets with the manufacturer and your acquisition authority.
Overview
Leonidas is Epirus's high-power-microwave (HPM) counter-drone weapon: rather than physically destroying a target, it emits a directional, digitally beamformed electromagnetic pulse that overloads and permanently disables a drone's onboard electronics, letting one system engage many drones in a swarm simultaneously (either narrowly targeted at a single threat or in a wide-area mode against multiple threats at once) with no per-shot ammunition cost. It is built on gallium-nitride (GaN) semiconductor amplifiers rather than a legacy vacuum-tube magnetron, which Epirus says gives it a smaller, more efficient, software-upgradable design. The US Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office awarded Epirus a $66.1 million contract in January 2023 for the Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Power Microwave (IFPC-HPM) program; Epirus delivered four Leonidas prototype systems to the Army by March 2024, with units subsequently deployed to US Central Command for real-world operational testing, and the Army awarded a $43.5 million follow-on contract in July 2025 for IFPC-HPM Generation II systems. Epirus has also demonstrated a growing family of Leonidas variants beyond the original towed-trailer configuration: the airdrop-capable Leonidas Pod, the US Marine Corps-oriented Leonidas ExDECS (Expeditionary Directed Energy Counter-Swarm) unveiled in 2024, a scaled-down Leonidas H2O tested by the US Navy in 2024 against small-boat outboard motors, a Stryker-mounted short-range air-defense integration developed with General Dynamics Land Systems, and (announced March 2026) the Leonidas AGV, an autonomous ground-vehicle configuration built on a Ford F-600 truck with Kodiak AI self-driving software. In a March 2026 live-fire demonstration Epirus stated Leonidas defeated 100 percent of a 49-drone swarm with a single system. Epirus has not published power-output, frequency or maximum-engagement-range figures for the baseline system, and no such figures are recorded here; the company describes power level as a software-configurable parameter that varies by variant rather than a single fixed rating.
Full specifications
Firepower
Armament, payload and guidance.
| Main armament Primary weapon: main gun, cannon or missile type. | Solid-state, gallium-nitride (GaN) high-power-microwave emitter with digitally beamformed, electronically steerable antenna |
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Specifications compiled from public Epirus, Inc. and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations, treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-08-22.
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KBP Instrument Design Bureau Pantsir-S1 Frequently asked questions
What is the main armament of the Epirus, Inc. Leonidas? +
The Epirus, Inc. Leonidas's primary weapon is the Solid-state, gallium-nitride (GaN) high-power-microwave emitter with digitally beamformed, electronically steerable antenna.
What is the Epirus, Inc. Leonidas used for? +
The Epirus, Inc. Leonidas is a air defense system typically used for counter uas, electronic warfare, air defense.
How much does the Epirus, Inc. Leonidas cost? +
Epirus, Inc. Leonidas: US Army IFPC-HPM: $66.1M contract (January 2023) for 4 prototypes delivered by March 2024; $43.5M IFPC-HPM Generation II follow-on (July 2025); per-unit price not publicly disclosed. Defense program costs are rarely fully public and vary by contract and configuration.
