13APR

Microwave and Laser Weapons Reach the Field

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13:26UTC

Three directed-energy counter-drone systems from three companies entered the field or demonstration in a single month.

← Back to Gulf drone war rewrites procurement Jump to analysis ↓

TechnologyDeveloping

Key takeaway

Energy-based counter-drone systems reached combat and demonstration readiness simultaneously in March 2026.

Epirus revealed the Leonidas AGV at the AUSA Global Force conference in March 2026. The autonomous ground vehicle integrates high-power microwave (HPM) defeat, with General Dynamics as platform integrator and Kodiak Robotics providing autonomous driving capability. ¹

Separately, the US Navy confirmed that ODIN, its shipboard laser weapon, saw combat deployment aboard a destroyer during Operation Epic Fury. ² ODIN's deployment makes it the first confirmed naval laser used in active combat operations. Combined with AeroVironment's LOCUST X3 unveil the same week, three distinct directed-energy counter-drone systems reached the field or demonstration readiness in a single month.

Iran's campaign has launched 4,446 drones since 28 February, overwhelming missile-based defences that cost 80 to 200 times more per intercept . The Army's E-HEL (Enduring High Energy Laser) competition, expected to select a winner in Q2 FY26, will determine which directed-energy approach (laser, microwave, or hybrid) the military considers production-ready. The theoretical debate about energy weapons replacing missiles for counter-drone duty is over. Procurement decisions are next.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Most countries defend against drone attacks by firing missiles. It is expensive and uses up missiles that might be needed for bigger threats. Directed energy weapons, whether lasers or microwave devices, work differently. They fire pulses of energy that fry the drone's electronics or burn through its airframe. They cost almost nothing per shot and never run out of ammunition. In March 2026, three different versions of this technology reached the battlefield in the same month. That is unusual. It suggests the US military is accepting the technology is ready, not just promising.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Iran's campaign created an emergency demand signal that no single vendor could satisfy immediately. The simultaneous appearance of HPM, laser, and naval variants reflects parallel development tracks funded under different programme lines rather than coordinated procurement, which is typical of US defence innovation under budget uncertainty.

ODIN's naval deployment alongside land-based demonstrations suggests the Navy and Army are running separate directed-energy programmes with limited cross-service coordination, which historically leads to duplicate investment before a common standard emerges.

What could happen next?

The Army E-HEL competition will have real-world performance data from three concurrent deployments, enabling a more informed downselect in Q2 FY26.
Simultaneous fielding of non-interoperable directed-energy systems risks creating a support and logistics burden that limits their operational utility unless a common architecture is mandated.

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Primary parallel: Israel's transition from gun-based to missile-based air defence in 1973-1982 similarly involved simultaneous fielding of multiple competing systems (Hawk, Chaparral, Stinger) before a dominant technology emerged through attrition-based selection; the multi-system period lasted roughly seven years.

Counter-parallel: The US Navy's CIWS Phalanx versus RAM competition in the 1980s showed that two technically sound but operationally different systems can co-exist permanently rather than converging, if their threat-defeat profiles differ enough.

The counter-UAS market was valued at $4.93 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $36.42 billion by 2035 . Three simultaneous directed-energy fieldings compress that market growth timeline by validating the technology category commercially.

For defence primes, the integration model matters: Epirus's choice of General Dynamics as platform integrator distributes revenue across the prime ecosystem rather than concentrating it in a startup. This is strategically significant for Epirus's ability to compete for large Pentagon programme-of-record contracts, which favour companies embedded in existing prime relationships.

Consensus view: The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and defense analyst Tom Karako (CSIS) both characterised the simultaneous fielding of multiple directed-energy systems as the clearest signal yet that the US counter-drone Community has accepted energy defeat as the structural solution, not a supplementary tool.

Counter-view: Russian military analysts (Moscow Defense Brief, February 2026) argued that the US is fielding directed-energy systems before solving their fundamental limitation: atmospheric attenuation in rain, dust, or smoke degrades laser and microwave effectiveness by 40 to 60 percent, which matters in environments like Iran's Gulf.

Key tension: Whether directed energy can maintain reliable intercept rates across the full range of weather and atmospheric conditions in which adversaries will operate drones.

Sources:UK Defence Journal

Mentions:Moscow →Epirus →Leonidas AGV →General Dynamics →Kodiak Robotics →ODIN →US Navy →Iran →Israel →Prima →AeroVironment →LOCUST X3 →RUSI →Russia →E-HEL →Operation Roaring Lion / Epic Fury →Center for Strategic and International Studies →STING →

First Reported In

Update #4 · Factories Under Fire: America's Drone Gap Meets Reality

UK Defence Journal· 4 Apr 2026

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Causes and effects

This Event

Microwave and Laser Weapons Reach the Field

Simultaneous fielding of laser and microwave counter-drone systems signals the structural shift from missile-based intercept to energy-based defeat is now operational.

Led to

EHEL laser contest slips to Q4 FY26

ODIN combat deployment (ID:1966) established directed-energy counter-drone precedent; EHEL competition is the Army's procurement response, now delayed to Q4 FY26.

Occurred 10 Apr 2026

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Different Perspectives

Procurement sceptics

Two identically sized IDIQs to different primes within seven weeks, and a five-nation pact where one partner moves weeks ahead of the rest, could just as easily read as an industrial base still improvising vendor mix as a deliberate hedging doctrine. Neither ceiling appears sized against a validated requirement yet.

Chinese component suppliers

FCC and Pentagon-level restrictions on Chinese-origin airframes and motors have progressively excluded DJI-linked suppliers from federal counter-drone catalogues, narrowing the field JIATF-401 and Gauntlet II can buy from to a short list of certified domestic bidders. Beijing reads the exclusions as protectionism dressed as security policy.

Quantum Systems

Blackstone, Airbus, Advent and Noteus reportedly priced the Munich drone maker at $8 billion, more than double its prior mark, on the strength of 19,000 Ukraine missions rather than confirmed revenue. It is betting production capacity, not current sales, is what buyout capital is now paying for.

United Kingdom

Britain released the first LEAP effector money three weeks after its defence secretary quit over the size of the drone budget, splitting £3.16 million across three small firms rather than one contractor. It expects the other four LEAP partners to follow its pace, not set their own.

JIATF-401

The task force handed AeroVironment a $500 million counter-drone ceiling identical to Perennial Autonomy's from seven weeks earlier, while its own Gauntlet II red team prepares to attack the drones the winners of that sprint will build. It expects to keep several qualified suppliers warm rather than certify one.

DroneShield

DroneShield appointed retired Rear Admiral Lee Goddard as an independent director from 1 July, its second board move since founder Oleg Vornik's April exit. The ASIC probe into November's disclosures and share sales stays open, so the admiral steadies the story without closing the file.