The Navy this summer plans to experiment with high-power microwave (HPM) technology to temporarily disable small surface vessels powered by outboard motors, a test that if successful will showcase the expanded mission set of Epirus’ system that the Army is evaluating to counter swarms of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
“We welcome this opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of long-pulse HPM technology in another threat environment,” Andy Lowery, CEO of Epirus, said in a statement. “Epirus can defend against a wide range of threats across domains.”
Planning for the Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) Coast Trident 2024 (CT24) Program is underway and Epirus said specifics about how its HPM system will be deployed will be finalized closer to the event, which runs from June through September off the coast of Southern California.
Epirus has already conducted “preliminary investigations” into the use of its HPM system to temporarily scramble the electronics of an outboard motor “with positive result,” the company told Defense Daily. The company also said the temporary disruption is useful in a “vessel stop scenario” to prevent the risk of a craft being stranded at sea or damaged.
The HPM technology offers users a low-cost and non-lethal alternative to kinetic disruptors.
The Navy has been successfully countering seaborne drones in the Red Sea launched from Yemen by Houthi rebels who are disrupting commercial vessel traffic in the region. The use of uncrewed surface drones by Ukrainian forces have been critical in limiting Russian naval operations in the Black Sea.
In addition to demonstrating the technology for the Navy, Epirus said the exercise will showcase the HPM system for port security and critical infrastructure protection applications, including to “test its effectiveness when deployed on uncrewed autonomous vessels.”
Asked what uncrewed vessels the HPM system will be deployed on for ANTX-CT24, Epirus said the technology may be deployed on an uncrewed vessel but “would depend on the end-customer and their fleet plans for this vessel interdiction mission.”
The Navy has previously experimented with HPM systems and the upcoming demonstrations will offer another opportunity to evaluate the technology to fill mission gaps.
“ANTX-CT24 will feature technical demonstrations and experiments across a wide variety of technology areas, including unmanned systems countermeasures,” Brendan Applegate, Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme, Calif., Lead for Fleet Experimentation and Exercise, said in a statement. “We have conducted several HPM experiments in the past, as a method to counter electronic systems and unmanned aircraft swarms, and expect that an assessment of Epirus’ HPM system in a counter-surface vessel role will support the program’s goals.”
The Army has taken delivery of four of Epirus’ drone-killing microwave-based directed energy systems for capabilities and limitations tests this month in the Mojave Desert. If all goes well, the company expects the Army to continue training with the short-range air defense Indirect Fire Protection Capability-HPM and send one or more prototypes into an operational theater this year (Defense Daily, March 8).