CA. company shows off high-powered anti drone weapon

In the 1930s, Nikola Tesla proposed the idea of a particle beam that he called “Teleforce”. Other people would call it a death ray, but he said that that would be an incorrect description. There's no record of anybody ever seeing a demonstration of this device. 

When the first atomic bombs were tested one of the byproducts of the explosion was the electromagnetic pulse that occurred. This electromagnetic pulse was omnidirectional and would pretty much disable any electronics within its path up to a certain distance. 

Since that discovery, scientists have wondered if there would be any way to make a directional electromagnetic pulse. Now that has come to pass, but the device is rather large and unwieldy, and its effectiveness is limited. 

A lot of this research is being spurred by the use of drones in warfare. Is there a device that can be created and used specifically to knock drones out of the sky without using projectiles? 

Now we may have that system. Think of it as a death ray for drones, and now for several different types of marine motor power systems. The United States Defense Department has been working on some kind of non-ballistic deterrent for drones of all kinds for years now and a California-based company, Epirus  has functioning prototypes for both. 

according to msn.com,
‘Counter-drone company Epirus unveiled a new high-power microwave system capable of disabling manned and unmanned boat motors, it announced Tuesday.
Leonidas H2O "was effective against vessel motors at record ranges" during the U.S. Navy's Advanced Technology Exercise Coastal Trident event in Crane, Indiana, held in August 2024, according to the announcement.’ 

Epirus Demonstrated their first anti drone device back in 2020 but has now modified it so that it can work in a marine environment.  Its prime objective is to destroy the electronics of the object it's aimed at. Whether the drone is aerial, Running on the ground, or on the water.  

Since the system's key objective is to destroy electronics, any boat motor that uses an electronic ignition would be susceptible. 

There is one big limitation to operating this system on the water and a few advantages. The kind of frequencies that Leonidas ( that's the name of the system) uses will not propagate through the water. But what it will do is it will reflect off the water to give them extra range. (a little like skipping a rock.) An added benefit that they had not anticipated in the beginning. 

Many experts are saying that drones are the future of warfare. Those experts also say that developing countermeasures to drones is just as important. Just like many other technologies that are common in the world today, in the past, those technologies were invented either while preparing for or during wartime.  

The Pentagon has been testing multiple systems with varying degrees of success, including EMP projectors and microwave systems. The same kinds of research have been going on in Europe as well with Britain testing their own system last year. 

It all sounds a little bit like science fiction, but it's bleeding edge technology that is being researched today to defend us tomorrow.
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