Today, warfare is no longer fought with guns, cannons, or warships alone. With advances in technology, drones have become a class of weapons in their own right. Compared to conventional weapons, these devices are inexpensive, agile, and stealthy, yet can pose a threat. They can be used for scouting, but can also be used to attack directly.
Faced with the rise of drones on the battlefield, the United States Army decided to invest in a weapon to counter them . The US Army has just awarded a 60.6 million euro contract to the company Epirus to provide prototypes of a microwave weapon capable of shooting down an entire swarm of drones in one shot. while leaving the Allied aircraft intact. This weapon is called Leonidas .
The advantages of energy weapons
Anti-drone weapons are very useful when a swarm of enemy drones surrounds, for example, a military base or other installations. In this case, ordinary defense systems will not be able to shoot down all aircraft. Moreover, if we use missiles, it will be using weapons that cost millions of euros to destroy devices that are only worth a few hundred euros.
Today, to counter drone attacks , we mainly think of energy weapons that use lasers or microwaves . These systems have several advantages that make them ideal weapons for combating drones. They operate at the speed of light and are capable of attacking multiple targets at the same time. In addition, they use electricity as ammunition, and the cost of each shot is very low.
The characteristics of Leonidas
Among the energy weapons is the High-Power Microwave (HPM) Leonidas . Its development , which began a few years ago, is funded by a US Army program . According to the information, the new contract aims to adapt the technology to manufacture prototypes capable of operating in the field.
Leonidas fights off the drones by firing blasts of microwave energy that disrupt or destroy the electronics of unmanned devices, causing them to crash to the ground. The system could even neutralize cruise missiles.
Epirus says Leonidas has the ability to precisely target a single drone, but it can also form a microwave barrier to stop swarms. It is also possible for the system to protect specific areas of the sky or to reconfigure itself to allow friendly drones to evolve while shooting down enemy aircraft.
According to the explanations, what is difficult with this kind of weapon is to know the optimal waveform . Previously, you had to heavily modify the hardware to get it. Leonidas is equipped with a phased network which is controlled by software . This facilitates reconfiguration and a small number of people can operate the device.
SOURCE: New Atlas