
A full-scale Leonidas AGV prototype will be on display at Booth 801 at the AUSA Global Force Symposium & Exhibition in Huntsville, Alabama, from today.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works .
A trio of U.S. industry leaders in defense, autonomy, and directed energy have collaborated on a new solution to neutralize drone swarms. Today, the Leonidas Autonomous Ground Vehicle (AGV) was announced as an autonomous mobile answer to the growing asymmetric threat from the skies. Specifically, it combines the Epirus Leonidas high-power microwave platform, the Kodiak Driver autonomous system, and General Dynamics Land Systems’ system integration expertise.
Watch On Advances in drone warfare are reshaping how nations think about offense and defense. We’ve recently reported on how Ukraine’s experience has been helping Gulf nations address this new kind of threat. As impressive as embattled Ukraine’s ingenuity is, countering ‘cheap’ drones effectively with ‘cheap’ anti-drone measures – an effective high-tech answer would be welcome. Perhaps the Leonidas AGV is it.
In a press release received by Tom’s Hardware, the collaborators behind the project highlighted that the AGV can be teleoperated to safely extend the lines of drone defenses and operated without human intervention. The rapidly deployable mobile unit can then dish out its deadly(to drones) directed microwave energy.
You may like China reveals 200-strong AI drone swarm that can be controlled by a single soldier US Army tests 20,000W vehicle-mounted laser systems for drone defense — updated LOCUST device is now more lethal against drones 100,000-Watt Iron Beam laser becomes world’s first drone defense zapper to be operationally deployed According to the AGV makers, it is effective against individual, swarm, or fiber-optic-controlled drone attacks. Previously, the Epirus Leonidas high-power microwave platform has enjoyed success in the field. We reported on it being demonstrated, downing 49 drones in one shot , last year. Thus, there is little reason to doubt its extended effectiveness as part of this autonomous mobile platform. It is basically driven to exactly where it will work best by Kodiak Driver from Kodiak AI. In case you haven’t heard of Kodiak AI, in 2024, it delivered the tech behind the first customer-owned and -operated driverless trucks in commercial service.
“Saturation drone attacks demand a fundamentally different approach to defense,” said Andy Lowery, CEO of Epirus. “Leonidas AGV combines autonomous mobility with high-power microwave effects to deliver a counter-UAS capability that rapidly maneuvers to defeat drone swarms without more boots on the ground. Together with GDLS and Kodiak, we’re enabling a new layer of autonomous drone defense for critical assets and infrastructure.”
General Dynamics Land Systems is a specialist unit of General Dynamics which provided the design, engineering, production, and combat vehicle support ‘glue’ to transition the AGV from a concept into a demonstrable prototype.
A full-scale Leonidas AGV prototype will be on display at Booth 801 this week, at the AUSA Global Force Symposium & Exhibition . The symposium begins today, at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/autonomous-mobile-drone-swarm-killer-created-in-trilateral-us-defense-company-collab-the-new-leonidas-autonomous-ground-vehicle-agv-is-a-high-power-microwave-platform#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/subscription
- RTX 5060 in a house fire suffers melted shroud and fans, but survives with PCB intact — scorched GPU just needed a cleanup and a new cooler for full restoration
- Get the 9800X3D CPU, Asus TUF gaming X870, and 32GB of DDR5 RAM, plus a free 512GB Gen 4 SSD and Crimson Desert, all for $959.99 — Newegg's combo bundles strike
- SK hynix places record $8 billion order for ASML EUV lithography machines — should pay for up to 30 EUV machines over two years, serving HBM and advanced DRAM p
- NVIDIA DSX Air Boosts Time to Token With Accelerated Simulation for AI Factories
- New NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super Delivers 5x Higher Throughput for Agentic AI
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.