Technology · Air and missile defense

High-power microwave counter-UAS

Directed-energy systems that disrupt drone electronics with high-power microwave pulses, engaging many drones at once.

Assessment

Case for · why it matters

One HPM system can defeat several drones at once, including autonomous or fiber-guided drones that jamming cannot stop, at negligible cost per shot.

Case against · the skeptic’s view

Range is short (an inner layer of about a kilometer) and the emission is very bright, so the system is easy to find and target when it fires.

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Organizations working on this technology. Select a sortable column heading to sort.
				Conf.
EpirusUS	Startup	Developer	Limited fielding	Reported

Placed by each organization's own maturity for this technology; TRL is self-reported or estimated, see confidence.

Solid-state high-power microwave counter-drone system; Gen II ordered by the Army as IFPC-HPM.

Limited fielding

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Inputs this technology depends on. Select a sortable column heading to sort.
			Why it constrains
Lithium-ion battery cells	Component	High	China produced 80% of global battery cells and over 90% of anode material in 2024 (IEA). CATL and other Chinese battery makers are on DoD's 1260H list, and China's October 2025 controls on high-energy-density cells (suspended to November 2026) target the cells drones use.

Criticality is how much a shortage would constrain production; open an input for producers, concentration and trade controls.

1
NewsArmy Puts $43M Bet On Next Gen Leonidas High Power Microwave Counter Drone Tech
The War Zone · Jul 17, 2025 · Supports Organization technology, Technology, Technology · technology input:lithium-ion-cells
“the deployment of four GEN I system prototypes to the Middle East in 2024”

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