Marines Get Their First High Power Microwave Weapon For Taking On Drone Swarms. Testing the ExDECS weapon will give the USMC a better idea of how high-power microwave technology can boost its short-range air defenses.
The U.S. Marine Corps has taken delivery of the Expeditionary Directed Energy Counter-Swarm, or ExDECS, weapon, its maker Epirus announced today to coincide with the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington, D.C. ExDECS will allow the Corps to start experiments with high-power microwave (HPM) technology in the increasingly critical low-altitude air defense (LAAD) role. This kind of counter-drone system is increasingly seen as a critical layer in force protection and something that is urgently needed to enhance current and future ground-based air defense capabilities.
ExDECS is a derivative of the Leonidas HPM-energy-based counter-drone system developed by Epirus, whose products we will revisit soon in a very in-depth story. The company delivered the first ExDECS system to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in Virginia earlier this year, where it completed government acceptance testing ahead of a planned test program.
The mobile, solid-state HPM system has been developed as part of a contract awarded by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR). In September 2024, the ONR awarded Epirus an additional follow-on contract to support further testing and evaluation of the system as part of the Preliminary Evaluation of Ground-based Anti-Swarm UAS System (PEGASUS) program.
“Drone warfare is changing the fight — fast. Systems like ExDECS give Marines a decisive advantage by neutralizing multiple electronic threats at once with a single system — what we call a one-to-many capability,” said Andy Lowery, CEO of Epirus. “This delivery is a critical step toward fielding non-kinetic counter-swarm solutions that enhance the mobility, survivability, and lethality of our Marine forces.”
Leonidas Expeditionary was introduced in 2024 and is the latest addition to the company’s range of scalable HPM systems for counter-electronics. ExDECS is designed to integrate with light tactical vehicles and trailers to improve expeditionary short-range air defense (SHORAD) capabilities.
