The US Marine Corps has awarded electronic warfare company Epirus an $11 million contract to provide a vehicle-mounted high-power microwave system designed to counter drone swarms. The system, known as the High-power Microwave Autonomous Vehicle Operational Capability, or HAVOC, is based on Epirus’ Leonidas technology.
HAVOC uses a universal sled mount intended to allow the system to be integrated across manned and unmanned Marine Corps ground vehicles. This provides the Marine Corps with greater flexibility in choosing the platforms that can carry the counter-drone capability.
The system is an evolution of Epirus’ Expeditionary Directed Energy Counter-Swarm system, which was delivered to the Marine Corps in 2025. At the core of Leonidas are solid-state high-power microwave components and gallium nitride amplifiers that generate and amplify electromagnetic energy for engaging multiple unmanned aerial systems.
Compared with the earlier ExDECS system, HAVOC is expected to provide three times the power, along with greater range and ruggedness. It will also include autonomous capabilities intended to reduce the decision-making burden placed on operators.
HAVOC is designed to provide a mobile, non-kinetic counter-drone capability. It will complement existing low-altitude air-defence systems and form part of a layered approach to protecting forces and critical equipment from unmanned aerial threats.
Potentially protected assets include air-defence systems, refueling points, radars, communications equipment, power systems and other forward-deployed infrastructure. The system’s mobility is intended to allow commanders to position the capability where drone threats are most likely to emerge.
Its high-power microwave architecture is also designed to expand coverage and increase power output. Software-driven tuning is intended to provide continued adjustment of the system and improve its operational effectiveness.
The contract includes training, service and sustainment support, with options covering an additional system and related capabilities. The programme reflects the Marine Corps’ increasing focus on mobile technologies that can respond to the growing use of unmanned aerial systems on the battlefield.
