Northrop Grumman announced it has formed a strategic supplier agreement with Epirus, Inc. to offer the company’s electromagnetic pulse (EMP) capability as part of its counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) systems-of-systems solution offering.
The agreement augments Northrop Grumman’s C-UAS capabilities by including Epirus’ EMP systems to defeat UAS swarms, and specifically supplements the company’s suite of non-kinetic C-UAS effects.
“UAS threats are proliferating across the modern battlespace,” said Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager, combat systems and mission readiness, Northrop Grumman. “By integrating the Epirus EMP weapon system into our C-UAS portfolio, we continue maturing our robust, integrated, layered approach to addressing and defeating these evolving threats.”
Epirus’ C-UAS EMP system — called Leonidas — is designed for static and mobile C-UAS defense and utilizes solid-state commercial semiconductor technology to deliver capability with significant reduction in size and weight. This enables increased stand-off ranges and that do not suffer from issues with magazine depth and capacity. When fired, a Leonidas creates an EMP that can be steered for precision engagements, or adjusted to sanitize a volume of terrain or sky, creating a force field effect.
“We’re excited to work closely with the Northrop Grumman team to support their C-UAS systems-of-systems solution offering,” said Bo Marr, chief technology officer at Epirus. “Our unprecedented EMP capabilities will complement this offering as we continue to look to the future to understand how asymmetric threats will evolve.”
Epirus Inc. is a third-year startup that develops EMP weapons for the US military. Their team combines veteran experience from aerospace and the special operations community.
