Can One Microwave Burst Stop Several Drones?

Introduction

A microwave counter-drone weapon does not need to destroy every drone individually to be valuable. Its main advantage is that a single pulse can affect multiple aircraft occupying the same volume of airspace, reducing swarm size in batches rather than forcing a defender into a sequence of one-on-one engagements. In swarm defence, this matters because the limiting factor is often time. When dozens of drones arrive together, a weapon that can simultaneously disrupt electronics across part of the formation can rapidly reduce the number of active threats and buy precious seconds for follow-on defences. High-power microwave (HPM) and radio-frequency directed energy systems are therefore designed around a one-to-many engagement model rather than the serial engagement model typical of most conventional interceptors and lasers.[Office of Naval Research]navy.milOffice of Naval Research Directed Energy Weapons: High Power Microwaves HPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad sOffice of Naval ResearchDirected Energy Weapons: High Power MicrowavesHPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad spe…

Why Swarm Attacks Compress Defensive Timing

Drone swarms create a throughput problem. Even if a defensive system can reliably defeat a single drone, success against a swarm depends on how many targets can be engaged before the formation reaches its objective.

This is where microwave effects become attractive. A microwave pulse propagates at the speed of light and can illuminate a broader region than a tightly focused laser beam. Instead of selecting one drone, dwelling on it, and then moving to the next, the weapon attempts to inject disruptive electromagnetic energy into multiple drones’ electronics at once. If several drones are exposed within the effective beam volume, several may be affected during the same engagement window.[Office of Naval Research+2RTX]navy.milOffice of Naval Research Directed Energy Weapons: High Power Microwaves HPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad sOffice of Naval ResearchDirected Energy Weapons: High Power MicrowavesHPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad spe…

The practical consequence is not merely faster destruction. It is a different engagement geometry. A defender may be able to reduce a 40-drone threat to a much smaller and less coordinated group after only a handful of pulses, avoiding the queue problem that swarms are designed to create.

How Wide-Area Pulses Create Batch Effects

The mechanism behind batch defeat is electronic coupling rather than physical impact.

High-power microwave systems generate intense electromagnetic energy intended to interact with electronic circuits. Depending on the design of both the weapon and the drone, the pulse may overload components, upset processors, corrupt signals, disrupt sensors, or damage electronics outright. The objective is to make the drone unable to complete its mission, whether through permanent failure or temporary disruption.[Office of Naval Research+2RTX]navy.milOffice of Naval Research Directed Energy Weapons: High Power Microwaves HPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad sOffice of Naval ResearchDirected Energy Weapons: High Power MicrowavesHPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad spe…

Batch effects emerge because the pulse is not restricted to a single point target. If multiple drones occupy the illuminated area:

Not every aircraft must be destroyed for the pulse to be operationally useful. The important outcome is that a significant fraction of the swarm becomes ineffective simultaneously.[Office of Naval Research]navy.milOffice of Naval Research Directed Energy Weapons: High Power Microwaves HPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad sOffice of Naval ResearchDirected Energy Weapons: High Power MicrowavesHPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad spe…

The broad-beam nature of many HPM concepts explains why developers consistently market them as counter-swarm systems. Their value comes from affecting a volume of airspace rather than surgically attacking one airframe at a time.[Office of Naval Research+2Epirus]navy.milOffice of Naval Research Directed Energy Weapons: High Power Microwaves HPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad sOffice of Naval ResearchDirected Energy Weapons: High Power MicrowavesHPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad spe…

What Real Demonstrations Reveal About Batch Defeat

Recent demonstrations have increasingly focused on proving one-to-many engagement capability rather than merely showing that a microwave weapon can disable a drone.

In April 2025, the British Ministry of Defence announced successful trials of a radio-frequency directed energy weapon that defeated drone swarms. According to official reporting, soldiers brought down two separate swarms during a single engagement sequence, while more than 100 drones were immobilised across testing. The programme’s public emphasis was swarm defeat rather than individual target interception.[GOV.UK+2Defence Equipment & Support]GOV.UKBritish soldiers take down drone swarm in groundbreaking…17 Apr 2025 — British soldiers have successfully tracked, targeted and defeat…

Industry demonstrations have highlighted the same principle. Raytheon’s Phaser system is described as using a wide microwave beam that can disable drones simultaneously by attacking their electronics rather than striking each aircraft individually.[RTX]rtx.comPhaser High-Power Microwave System | RaytheonDefending at the speed of light. The Phaser high-power microwave system uses directed ene…

Similarly, Epirus has repeatedly showcased its Leonidas HPM system as a counter-swarm platform. In a 2025 live-fire demonstration, the company reported defeating a large drone swarm and demonstrated simultaneous engagement of multiple airborne targets. Subsequent reporting on the event highlighted claims that dozens of drones were disabled during a single activation, illustrating the batch-engagement concept that microwave advocates consider central to swarm defence.[Epirus+2Tom's Hardware]epirusinc.comEpirusEpirus' Leonidas High-Power Microwave Defeats 49-Drone…10 Sept 2025 — Leonidas engaged and defeated all three drones simultaneou…

These demonstrations do not imply that every drone in a swarm will always fail. They do show that designers are increasingly measuring success by the number of drones affected per engagement rather than by individual kill events.

What Partial Disruption Can Still Accomplish

A common misunderstanding is that microwave weapons are only useful if they permanently destroy electronics. In practice, partial disruption can produce significant operational effects.

Modern swarms often depend on coordination. Drones may share navigation information, exchange commands, maintain formation spacing, or synchronise attacks. If a microwave pulse simultaneously disrupts a portion of those systems, the swarm can lose coherence even when some aircraft remain airborne.[Office of Naval Research]navy.milOffice of Naval Research Directed Energy Weapons: High Power Microwaves HPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad sOffice of Naval ResearchDirected Energy Weapons: High Power MicrowavesHPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad spe…

Several outcomes can benefit the defender:

From a defensive perspective, reducing a coordinated swarm of forty drones to ten functioning aircraft can be almost as valuable as destroying all forty if it restores manageable engagement rates.

This is why official descriptions of HPM effects frequently refer to disruption as well as destruction. A drone that cannot complete its mission has effectively been removed from the attack even if its airframe remains intact.[Office of Naval Research]navy.milOffice of Naval Research Directed Energy Weapons: High Power Microwaves HPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad sOffice of Naval ResearchDirected Energy Weapons: High Power MicrowavesHPM weapons create beams of electromagnetic energy over a broad spe…

Why Batch Defeat Matters More Than Perfect Defeat

The key contribution of microwave weapons to swarm defence is not necessarily greater lethality. It is higher engagement throughput.

A laser may destroy one drone very effectively. A microwave pulse may affect many drones less predictably. Against isolated targets, the laser’s precision can be advantageous. Against dense swarms, however, the ability to thin the formation in batches can become more important than achieving a perfect kill on each aircraft.[The War Zone]twz.comThe War ZoneMarines Get Their First High Power Microwave Weapon…29 Apr 2025 — A wide beam means HPM weapons have greater potential to…

Viewed through the lens of swarm defence, the objective is often to reduce the number of incoming threats faster than the attacker can overwhelm the defender. Microwave systems pursue that goal by turning a single engagement into a multi-target event. The more drones occupying the affected area when a pulse arrives, the greater the potential batch effect—and the greater the chance of breaking the swarm’s numerical advantage before engagement time runs out.[RTX+2Defense News]rtx.comPhaser High-Power Microwave System | RaytheonDefending at the speed of light. The Phaser high-power microwave system uses directed ene…

Amazon book picks

Further Reading

Books and field guides related to Can One Microwave Burst Stop Several Drones?. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.

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The Kill Chain

By Christian Brose

Explains why rapid reduction of incoming threats matters in compressed engagement timelines.

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Army of None

By Paul Scharre

Covers autonomous and massed unmanned systems that motivate one-to-many defensive weapons.

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Drone Warfare

By Medea Benjamin

Explains the drone threat environment that makes batch effects valuable against multiple aircraft.

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Introduction to Electronic Defense Systems

By Filippo Neri

Microwave batch effects depend on electronic disruption, coupling pathways, and system vulnerabilities.

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Browse more on Amazon: The Kill Chain Army of None Drone Warfare

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Endnotes

1. Source: rtx.com
Link:https://www.rtx.com/raytheon/what-we-do/integrated-air-and-missile-defense/phaser-high-power-microwave

2. Source: GOV.UK
Link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-soldiers-take-down-drone-swarm-in-groundbreaking-use-of-radio-wave-weapon

3. Source: onr.navy.mil
Link:https://www.onr.navy.mil/organization/departments/code-35/division-353/directed-energy-weapons-high-power-[microwaves

4. Source: twz.com
Link:https://www.twz.com/land/marines-get-their-first-high-power-microwave-weapon-for-taking-on-drone-swarms

5. Source: epirusinc.com
Link:https://www.epirusinc.com/

6. Source: epirusinc.com
Link:https://www.epirusinc.com/electronic-warfare

7. Source: des.mod.uk
Title: british army uses radio waves to down drone swarms
Link:https://des.mod.uk/british-army-uses-radio-waves-to-down-drone-swarms/

8. Source: defensenews.com
Title: in first british army uses radio wave weapon to knock out drone swarm
Link:https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2025/04/17/in-first-british-army-uses-radio-wave-weapon-to-knock-out-drone-swarm/

9. Source: epirusinc.com
Link:https://www.epirusinc.com/press-releases/epirus-leonidas-high-power-microwave-defeats-49-drone-swarm-100-of-drones-flown-at-live-fire-demonstration

10. Source: tomshardware.com
Title: Tom’s Hardware High-power microwave system downs 49 drones in [one shot]({{ ‘one-shot/’ | relative_url }})
Link:https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/high-power-microwave-system-downs-49-drones-in-one-shot-weaponized-electromagnetic-interference-erases-drone-swarms-en-masse

11. Source: tomshardware.com
Link: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

12. Source: Wikipedia
Title: Epirus Leonidas
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epirus_Leonidas

13. Source: droneintelligence.ai
Link:https://droneintelligence.ai/companies/epirus

Published: May 2026

14. Source: defensescoop.com
Title: epirus navy hpm microwave antx coastal trident
Link:https://defensescoop.com/2024/04/04/epirus-navy-hpm-microwave-antx-coastal-trident/

15. Source: linkedin.com
Link:https://www.linkedin.com/posts/epirus_epirus-leonidas-high-power-microwave-defeats-activity-7371575751776608256-i0zZ

16. Source: calibredefence.co.uk
Title: epirus zaps fibre optic fpv with leonidas microwave weapon
Link:https://www.calibredefence.co.uk/epirus-zaps-fibre-optic-fpv-with-leonidas-microwave-weapon/

17. Source: defence-blog.com
Title: epirus confirms leonidas microwave system integration with dft platform
Link:https://defence-blog.com/epirus-confirms-leonidas-microwave-system-integration-with-dft-platform/

18. Source: twz.com
Title: army puts 50m bet on next gen leonidas high power microwave counter drone tech
Link:https://www.twz.com/land/army-puts-50m-bet-on-next-gen-leonidas-high-power-microwave-counter-drone-tech

19. Source: unmannedairspace.info
Title: epirus leonidas defeats 49 drone swarm with one electromagnetic burst
Link:https://www.unmannedairspace.info/counter-uas-systems-and-policies/epirus-leonidas-defeats-49-drone-swarm-with-one-electromagnetic-burst/

Additional References

20. Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/euronews/posts/a-new-weapon-successfully-took-down-over-a-hundred-drones-using-radio-frequency-/1048122227363107/

21. Source: thedefensewatch.com
Link:https://thedefensewatch.com/cyber-space-defense/uk-thales-rapiddestroyer-radio-frequency-weapon-counter-uas-trials-2026/

22. Source: dsm.forecastinternational.com
Link:https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/2025/04/22/thales-rapiddestroyer-demonstrator-neutralizes-drone-swarms-in-british-army-trials/

23. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1vY5efYXMQ

24. Source: army-technology.com
Title: uk develop rf directed energy weapon as part of its new c uas range
Link:https://www.army-technology.com/news/uk-develop-rf-directed-energy-weapon-as-part-of-its-new-c-uas-range/

25. Source: researchgate.net
Title: 374165879 Military Applications of High Power Microwaves
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374165879_Military_Applications_of_High-Power_Microwaves

26. Source: jedonline.com
Link:https://www.jedonline.com/2023/01/24/high-power-microwave-systems-getting-much-much-closer-to-operational-status/

27. Source: independent.co.uk
Title: drones ministry of defence weapons video b2734898
Link:https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/drones-ministry-of-defence-weapons-video-b2734898.html

28. Source: newsflare.com
Link:https://www.newsflare.com/video/792400/jaw-dropping-new-weapon-knocks-dozens-of-attacking-drones-out-of-sky

29. Source: newatlas.com
Title: british army energy weapon blasts drones swarm
Link:https://newatlas.com/military/british-army-energy-weapon-blasts-drones-swarm/