Northrop Grumman [NOC] announced Monday it is partnering with start-up venture Epirus to leverage its Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) capability for its own counter-drone solutions.
“The agreement augments Northrop Grumman’s advanced end-to-end 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,” the company wrote in a statement.
The Los Angeles-based Epirus will provide its Leonidas EMP capability for Northrop Grumman’s C-UAS offerings, including the Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD-C2) system.
FAAD-C2 was recently selected as one of eight counter-drone systems that will make up the Pentagon’s new joint “system of systems” architecture (Defense Daily, June 26).
“We’re excited to work closely with the Northrop Grumman team to support their C-UAS systems-of-systems solution offering,” Bo Marr, Epirus’ chief technology officer, said in a statement. “Our unprecedented EMP capabilities will complement this offering as we continue to look to the future to understand how asymmetric threats will evolve.”
Northrop Grumman said the Leonidas EMP tool “is designed for static and mobile C-UAS defense and utilizes solid-state commercial semiconductor technology to deliver capability with unprecedented reduction in size and weight.”
“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,” Kenn Todorov, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of Combat Systems and Mission Readiness, said in a statement.