The rise of autonomy and robotic systems has ushered in what many call the “Sixth Domain” of warfare, where unmanned systems play a decisive role in shaping the battlefield. This shift has created urgent new requirements for counter-drone and counter-UAS technologies capable of addressing not just individual threats but coordinated swarms at scale. Epirus CEO Andy Lowery sat down with us to share how his organization is viewing the shift.
This Q&A originally appeared as part of the NightDragon Market Report on Autonomy. A full version of that report can be found here.
As the intersection of autonomy and robotic systems emerges as the Sixth Domain of warfare, how has this shift changed the urgency and requirements for counter-drone and counter-UAS technologies?
The emergence of the Sixth Domain has accelerated the need for counter-UAS systems that are scalable, rapidly adaptable, and capable of defeating swarms. Epirus’ Leonidas High-Power Microwave Platform answers this urgency with a software-defined, one-to-many defense that outpaces autonomous, robotic, asymmetric threats and delivers operational relevance today. Leonidas uses electromagnetic interference to overwhelm a drones internal components, making the technology effective against autonomous swarms or fiber-optically guided drones where traditional electronic warfare and kinetic capabilities fall short.
Epirus is pioneering a new approach to directed energy with Leonidas to address drone swarms. What differentiates your weaponized electromagnetic interference capability to more traditional directed energy systems, and why do you believe it’s the right solution for the evolving threat landscape compared to kinetics or lasers or other possible solutions?
Leonidas takes a fundamentally different approach to directed energy by using longer pulses, delivering magnitudes more energy, and relies on weaponized electromagnetic interference instead of on extreme peak power or destructive burn-through. This allows us to deliver precise, scalable, and repeatable effects against entire swarms at once, with no shrapnel, no depletion of interceptors, and minimal collateral risk. Unlike kinetic or laser systems that are costly and limited to one-to-one engagements, Leonidas is a software-defined, one-to-many solution builtfor the speed and scale of today’s autonomous and ever-evolving electronic threats, making it a needed component for any layered defense in today’s evolving battlespace.
We’ve seen in Ukraine, Israel, and the Red Sea how drones are changing combat in real time. What lessons is Epirus taking from these conflicts?
Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web and Israel’s Operation Rising Lion show that cheap, distributed drone campaigns can be coordinated to overwhelm and penetrate air defenses, raising the operational urgency for drone countermeasures. For example, Ukraine claims that about 34% of Russia’s strategic cruise missile–carrying bomber fleet were damaged or destroyed in Spider’s Web, while in Iran, air defenses and radar batteries were degraded from Israeli drone saturation attack. Houthi attacks in the Red Sea demonstrate the same logic at sea, where commercial and military assets face saturation tactics that traditional interceptors cannot sustain. Epirus’ lesson is clear: to “defend the defenders” from drone attack, you need a layered counter-drone defense, focused on one-to-many, software-defined, and scalable systems like Leonidas’ weaponized electromagnetic interference, which has an unlimited magazine to neutralize swarms without the cost, magazine-depth concerns, and collateral risk of kinetic interceptors.
How are your customers — whether in the U.S. military, allied governments, or critical infrastructure operators — experiencing the shift to autonomy and drone proliferation?
Customers are already experiencing the shift to autonomy and drone proliferation in tangible ways. At Joint Base Langley-Eustis, drones flew overhead for 17 consecutive nights in December 2023, underscoring the vulnerability of even high-value installations. Across the homeland, the FAA recorded 411 illegal drone flights near U.S. airports in Q1 2025, while U.S. officials report over 1,000 cartel-operated drones crossing the southern border each month. The trends demand counter-drone approach that features proven, one-to-many defenses like Epirus’ Leonidas.
Looking five years out, how do you see the autonomy landscape evolving, and what do you see as the greatest opportunities for Epirus? What role will partnerships with government, industry, and investors play in getting there?
As drones adopt onboard autonomy at the edge, traditional counter drone capabilities like electronic warfare jamming lose relevance because there’s no external link to disrupt, and serial one-to-one defenses cannot keep pace with massed, coordinated swarms. Epirus built Leonidas for this new reality, enabling one operator to command multiple HPM systems through human-machine teaming to deliver scalable, software-defined counter-swarm effects. Partnerships with government, industry, and investors will be essential to accelerate this shift from concept to fielded capability.