The Epirus Leonidas anti-drone system we previously reported in 2021 destroyed a fleet of drones using high power microwaves (HPM). Leonidas uses HPM to burn out circuits on attacking drones even when they come in swarms.
Now the Leonidas Expeditionary, on the other hand, is being developed and it is a more portable and compact version that can be used by the United States Navy (USN). This anti-drone weapon was developed under the Expeditionary Directed Energy Counter-Swarm (ExDECS) project and it will be used in the field by Marine forces.
The Leonidas Expeditionary can be towed behind a 4X4 wheeled vehicle with a smaller antenna size than that used on the original version and also the one currently being tested on the Stryker armored car. The need for anti-drone systems increased after seeing their effectiveness used in the Russia-Ukraine, Sharia and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts.
Its small size makes it difficult to detect conventional radar systems. The cost of producing it is also cheaper, allowing the military of a small country to send a group of drones to carry out large-scale attacks without having to spend a lot.