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

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:Army Recognition

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

First Reported In

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

Army Recognition· 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

Israel Defense Forces (Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir)

The IDF finalised a new Unmanned Systems and Artificial Intelligence Branch on 10 September, with full inauguration expected by early December. Israel is reorganising its forces around drones while Israeli suppliers pass into foreign hands: US-listed Ondas bought the fuze maker GATE on 14 September.

EHang (chairman and chief executive Huazhi Hu)

EHang withdrew its 600 million yuan revenue guidance on 25 August, blaming a more cautious Chinese regulator after industry air incidents. China's leading pilotless-aircraft maker now seeks first approvals in Sri Lanka and Thailand while US tariffs and FCC rules shut Chinese parts out of allied supply chains.

DroneShield

The Australian firm won one of ten Domestic Shield ceilings, $500m, on 29 September, while its FY2027-and-beyond committed revenue stood at A$46m. Its own filing warns investors that the US award may never turn into orders.

Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of War

In a speech at Quantico on 30 September Hegseth announced AUTOWARCOM, a four-star drone command targeted for 1 October 2027 if Congress agrees, and called Drone Dominance and JIATF-401 a good start. He wants one command with its own budget to buy at the scale those two efforts have not reached.

Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA)

A DAPA-chaired committee approved a 2.16 trillion won domestic programme on 15 September for an army vertical take-off reconnaissance drone, running from 2027 to 2036. Seoul is choosing slow domestic development over urgent imports for its divisional surveillance.

Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet)

After the Legislative Yuan voted 60 to 50 on 27 August for a baseline of NT$40bn a year, in principle, for domestic drones and rejected its special budget, the Cabinet said on 30 August it would expedite funding and indicated it would co-sign the act. Taipei gets a statutory domestic market but loses a ring-fenced multi-year fund.